Ghost Story
by anjumstar
Summary: AU. A day alone in the ocean when Misty is five left her near death, but with the newfound ability to see ghosts. Quickly, these ghosts take over her life, becoming her only friends, foes, and even family, as she grows reclusive, fearing herself to be a freak of nature. But, as fate would have it, perhaps this was what was supposed to happen all along. AAMRN.
1. Play with Me

**_Ghost Story_**

 **Pairings:** PokéShipping, Ash/Misty.

 **Setting:** AU.

 **Rating:** Eventual T for language, death-related themes, and violence.

 **Ages:** This story is split into four parts. In this first one, Misty is five. Daisy, Violet, and Lily are between eleven and thirteen. Also, because she's five, bear in mind that this part is written from the POV of a young child. So things will be a little unclear just because she doesn't notice everything. In later parts, she'll know more and things will become clearer.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own, nor am I affiliated in any way with the Pokémon franchise. This story is merely for entertainment. I only own my OCs and, of course, the story.

 **A/N:** The ghost story at the beginning of the chapter was fully inspired by the creepypasta _Duskull and Dusclops_ on the Pokémon creepypasta wiki. With the nature of this story, it only seemed right to start off by paying homage to creepypastas. Also, many thanks to the ever-generous C'sMelody, my beta!

* * *

 **Part I: The Folly of Youth**

 **Play with Me**

 _"He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life."_

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

"If you see a skull, you must run away as quickly as possible. For when you look into its lone, red, bloodshot eye, you will begin to fall under Hypnosis." She shivered as there appeared a red light in the room, pointing right at her, soaking her in blood. Was that the eye of the ghost? She brought her legs in closer to her chest, praying that it was not.

"You must not allow yourself to fall asleep, because that's when it strikes." The word was accentuated by clap, making her flinch. "While you sleep, the skull of the ghost bonds with your own face. You can grope and grasp at the bony mask all you want, but pull and rip at it though you try, it is impossible to get off. No, you must crack it by slamming your face onto one of the jagged rocks marking your path on the mountain."

Again more slaps were heard, these ones lower in pitch and followed by an eerie scraping sound, echoing in multiple places in the room. Her head darted around as she tried to find the source of the noises, but it was too dark to see anything except the glowing light—now thankfully returned to a soft yellow-white.

"But you don't have much time, because as soon as that skull chooses you, black, living bandages begin to wrap themselves up you from your feet all the way up to where your face once was, paralyzing every part of you they touch as they go." She now felt a raspy cloth wisping its way from her feet up to her knees, sending shivers down her spine as she chewed her lip raw so as not to make a sound.

"If you do not wake up and get the bandages off, the ghost will strangle you, tightening the bandages around your neck until you can no longer breathe." The voice of the story became very raspy, trailing off at the end as though suffocated itself. There was a moment of silence and she thought—hoped—the story was over. But the voice came back, continuing with a ghostly monotone, "It is in control of you now. You will feel your body creak as it picks itself up from the cave floor, strangled, lifeless, but not dead. No, because your body has been filled with the new life of the ghost, overpowering yours until your soul is completely snuffed out. Dusclops will use your body and soon you will forget that you were ever human.

"And that's why you should never go atop Mt. Pyre; you never know if you'll become a ghost's next victim."

Abruptly the lights flicked on and Misty heard the jeering laughter of her sisters, as well as the click of the spooky flashlight going off.

"That was a good one, Vi!"

"You even got me shivering a little bit!"

"Thanks, guys; I try!"

The sisters were all sitting in different corners of the room, holding various props in hand. Violet was folding a red film in her hand and holding a snow globe she had assuredly been scraping against the wall. Daisy and Lily also held trinkets that had been used in a similar fashion.

Misty swallowed, tears burning her eyes as she struggled not to make a peep. She didn't want them to know that she was afraid. But as her lower lip quivered, the words couldn't help but spill out. "I don't want a ghost in me!" she wailed, a few tears dribbling down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Then, like, just don't go to Mr. Pyre," Violet said, putting a hand on Misty's back, producing a fresh batch of shivers.

"Or Lavender Town, or the Lost Tower, or the Celestial Tower," Lily added, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "Seriously, Vi, that was great! Did you write it yourself?"

"Like, sure did!"

"Anyway, it's time for you to go to sleep, Misty," Daisy said, reaching for the light switch again.

"No!" Misty shouted, sitting up rigidly in her bed. When you sleep is when the mask takes over your face and then you die! "I mean…could you keep the light on?"

"Sure," Daisy said with a playful smirk.

The three of them left their room, not ready to go to sleep themselves quite yet, while Misty lay in her bed, clenching her sheets in her fists for dear life. Yeah, there was no way she was going to sleep.

Lest she have ghost-filled nightmares.

* * *

"Seel, use Headbutt!"

Misty watched Seel hesitate, still wincing at the aftershocks of electricity coursing through the water and its body. But this was its last shot. An Emolga at a Water Gym was an almost guaranteed loss, and Seel was doing its best at this point just to stay afloat. Misty had been hopeful after Seel had managed to pull off an early Blizzard but the Emolga had withstood that without losing altitude and now Seel was dropping fast.

But Misty saw that the Emolga was on its last leg too. So Seel dove under the water, swimming around a bit to gain some momentum, as well as throw off its target. Then, in a glittery burst through the water's surface, Seel flew out of the water, striking its young horn right into the Emolga gliding through the air, causing Misty to gasp.

With a squeak, the Emolga's wings closed in around its body reflexively and it fell into the water. Seel fell in soon after, doing all it could to right its body into a proper dive so that it wouldn't knock itself out at the water's impact. If only it could stay swimming for a few more moments, Misty knew the match would be won.

Seel swayed in the water, watching the Emolga for any sign of movement, wary of the stray electricity that could discharge from its body. But there was none. It floated for a few moments, unmoving, before the referee lowered a green flag.

"Emolga is unable to battle. The Gym Leader, Fleur Waterflower, is the winner."

Fleur gracefully stepped off the platform, her bright red hair flowing behind her in the light breeze of the Gym and approached the dejected Trainer. Doing its part, Seel had scooped Emolga up onto its back and was ferrying the fainted Pokémon over to the challenger's platform. Misty smiled at that. Good ol' Seel.

The kid bent over and gently picked up Emolga, being especially careful around Seel's horn, now that he had seen its power. He made an effort to wipe most of the water from Emolga's dripping wings. "Sorry, Emolga," Misty overheard the kid sniffle softly.

"Hey," Fleur said sympathetically, waving the kid over to join her on the Gym floor, "you did a great job. It was a really close match." She paused. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Benji," the boy said after collecting himself.

"Benji," Fleur started again, "Promise me that you'll come back and challenge the Cerulean Gym again after a little more training, okay?"

"Okay." Benji nodded his head and returned his Emolga to its PokéBall, leaving the Gym with just a small twinkle of hope rekindled in his purple eyes.

Speaking of twinkling eyes, Misty had just bounded down the stairs of the bleachers, and ran to her mother's side.

"How'd you like the Battle, Misty?" Fleur asked, a giggle escaping her mouth at the awe that Misty knew was simply radiating through her green eyes.

"It was so good!" she gushed, her attention turning to Seel, whom she was leaning over the pool to pet. "Seel was the best!"

Seel was probably her favorite Pokémon in the whole Gym. He was the best swimmer, after all. Sometimes when Misty was swimming she would pretend that her feet were stuck together like a tailfin just so that she could be more like him.

"Yes, Seel really is the best," Fleur agreed, pulling Misty away from the tired Pokémon. "But now Seel needs to heal up, okay?"

"Okay," Misty agreed, albeit a bit reluctantly. She watched her mother return Seel to its PokéBall and began following on her heels. The excitement of the Battle now over, she let out a sloppy yawn as she asked, "Mommy, you know I wanna be a Water Pokémon Master just like you, right?"

Fleur smiled down at Misty. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a Master, but I think that that's a lovely goal, sweetheart."

"And I wanna have all Water Pokémon, just like you too."

"That's wonderful, Misty, and wonderful for the Cerulean Gym that you want to train Water Pokémon." Fleur then paused, causing Misty to almost run into her. She crouched down in front of Misty and looked her in the eyes. "Water Pokémon are beautiful and you know that they're my favorite, but don't ever limit yourself as a Trainer. Just because they're my favorite doesn't mean they have to be your favorite. You might have a deep connection with another Pokémon that isn't a Water Type."

"Okay, mommy," Misty agreed flippantly.

She didn't know why her mother was saying that. Water Pokémon really were the best. Why would she ever want anything else? Well, Jigglypuff were cute…Maybe she would make exceptions for some cute Pokémon.

Misty told her mother this, who returned with a melodious giggle. "Sure. Just keep your options open." She then smiled and ruffled Misty's hair playfully before standing up and continuing on her way out of the building and to the Pokémon Center. Misty started right up behind her again. "Misty, why don't you see if your sisters want to play? You can tell them all about the match."

Misty pouted a bit before her mouth broke open into another yawn and she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She didn't really want to be with her sisters right now. Not after last night. Besides, they probably wouldn't want to play with her and they definitely wouldn't care to hear about the Battle.

"Are you tired, Misty? You always could go take a nap."

"No, I'm not tired!" Misty quickly defended, throwing her fists to her sides.

Fleur arched her eyebrow at Misty, a look that made her turn away so that she couldn't tell that she was lying. "Okay, then you still need to go to your room so that I can go to the Pokémon Center, alright?"

Misty kind of dreaded the thought of hanging out with her sisters. She didn't want them to tell her another scary ghost story. But…maybe since she had listened to them yesterday they would listen to her tell them about the Battle! Enthused, Misty started leaving the room, careful not to run, because she knew she would be chastised for running on the slick tile.

As her excitement built, another idea came to her. Maybe they'd let her play with them in turn for making her listen to their story! That had to be fair, right? Further excited by the thought, Misty started running up the stairs to their room, getting down on all fours and using her hands for extra speed and balance.

She went into the room that they all shared and found the girls on Lily's bed, painting their nails. Misty plugged her nose at the terrible smell but approached them anyway.

"Hey, guys," Misty called, her voice muffled. But her sisters paid her no mind, not looking away from the new nail polish colors they were experimenting with or halting whatever it was they were talking about for a moment. Either they didn't hear her or they were ignoring her. That idea made Misty mad, so she stomped her foot and took her hand off her nose so that she could shout louder this time. "Hey, guys!"

The three sisters turned to look at her with varying looks of irritation on their faces.

"What is it, Misty?" Daisy finally asked with a heavy sigh in her voice.

Misty perked up at finally getting her sisters' attentions. "Mommy just had a really good Battle and she said I could tell you guys about it," she informed them.

"Sorry, Misty," Lily said, not looking apologetic at all, "but we're in the middle of something. Maybe you can tell us later."

"But—"

"Misty, shh!"

Misty felt disappointment welling up inside her. They didn't even listen to why they should listen to her. And she knew there wasn't going to be a later. That meant she would have to find something to entertain herself. So she looked around the large room for anything to catch her interest, finally laying her eyes on something.

Her sisters had finally passed on their princess dolls to her after only letting her watch while they played in the past. She didn't play with the dolls very often because most of them were broken and missing clothes, but Misty still had a fun idea. Sometimes she would pretend that the dolls were Pokémon Trainers or even the Pokémon themselves, and that would occupy her for at least a little while.

This time, the doll with the cut and markered hair, all courtesy of her sisters, was a Seel, and Misty was the Trainer and she was reenacting her mother's Battle. The doll with the ripped dress was making a particularly good Emolga, since the dress had at one time been yellow.

"Misty, could you, like, keep it down over there. You're ruining my concentration," Violet called over, annoyance laced heavily in her tone.

Okay, maybe Misty had gotten a little loud with the sound effects, but she couldn't perform Blizzard without making the whooshing noises that went with it! Misty pouted, but continued the Battle with minimal noise. She had to get to the end—it was the best part!

"Misty, pipe down over there!"

They couldn't be mad at her for that one; the crowd had to cheer for Seel! Seel was amazing! She tried explaining such to her sisters, but they weren't listening to her.

"Misty, what did we just say?" Daisy asked patronizingly.

"Yeah, like, Misty, why don't you just go play outside," Lily suggested as she waved her hands around to dry her nail polish.

Clearly she couldn't play in here, and she was already bored. Maybe her sisters had a good idea for once.

"Fine," Misty huffed. She dropped the already forgotten dolls on the ground and went downstairs. Hopefully Seel was recovered from its Battle so she could play with it in the ocean. Or maybe her mom was back and would play with her. She wasn't allowed to go outside by herself.

So she trotted downstairs to the pool. But there was no one to be found. No Seel, no mother, no whimpering Trainer. Well, that meant she couldn't go outside. Maybe she would just watch TV.

Then again…

No mother…No Pokémon…And her sisters were upstairs…

Maybe she could go outside and play anyway. She'd been out there a million times before, she knew the rules, and she was already a better swimmer than any of her sisters. No one had to know.

Excited, Misty ran outside. She never got to play by herself outside. This was going to be the most fun ever!

The ocean was a decent walk away; it wasn't like it was right outside. But Misty still knew how to get there by herself. Despite having a giant pool and a number of aquariums, Misty's mom still brought her and her sisters down to the beach all the time. It was great to see the water Pokémon and nothing made Misty happier, so she begged to go every weekend and her mom usually gave in and said yes, since her sisters frequently wanted to go too. Something about tanning.

Before long she started seeing Wingull and Pelipper and she started running. "Hi, Wingull, hi, Pelipper!" she shouted out to them. They squawked at her, as they always did, and Misty carried on gleefully. This was going to be the best day ever.

Her feet hit sand and she started laughing. She practically fell into the water and began splashing away giddily. Since it didn't cross her mind to change into her beach clothes, Misty was still wearing the dress she had been wearing earlier. It was soaked a dark blue and the cotton was clinging to her legs but she didn't care. Water made everything better.

But now she really wanted to swim. She hadn't gotten to practice yet today and she wanted to be an amazing swimmer. You couldn't be a Water Pokémon Master if you weren't a fantastic swimmer too.

So she began kicking her legs and sweeping her arms through the water. The water got colder and soon she couldn't feel anything brushing against her feet except for the occasional scaly or squishy Pokémon.

This was Misty's favorite part. It felt like she was flying but the water felt softer than air. Her limbs were chilled by the cold, yet the cold water washing over them felt more relaxing than anything else. Even though she'd been swimming for a while, she couldn't bring herself to feel tired yet. And the smell of the salty air was so much better than the chlorine in the swimming pool at the Gym. Even the non-chlorinated aquariums smelled more like algae and PokéChow than they did of the ocean.

Suddenly she caught view of a bright red light peeking through the water. Immediately shivers went down her spine, remembering the red eye of the Dusclops from her sisters' story. But this was the ocean, not Mt. Pyre. So the red light couldn't be a Dusclops. No, it had to be a Tentacool! She was sure of it!

Usually this was about as far out as Misty would go; usually by this point her mother would force her to come back. And Misty was usually fine with that, but a Tentacool? Tentacool were beautiful and one of the Water Pokémon that they didn't have at the Gym, so Misty couldn't give up this opportunity to swim out just a little further to see if she could get another look at it.

Besides, it was exhilarating to be out this far. There were sheer cliffs on either side of her, but the beach was so far away. Close enough that she could see it, and she was sure she could make it back, but far enough away that it felt like it was just her and the ocean.

There it was again! A little flash of red.

And something pink. Tentacool weren't pink. And the pink Water Pokémon that she did know wouldn't be here. Slowpoke stayed mostly on land, as did Shellos.

Oh, maybe it was an Alomomola! That would be even more fun than a Tentacool. Eagerly, Misty swam out even further, and the pink thing wasn't swimming away from her like most of the Water Pokémon she met in the ocean did. No, it actually seemed to be moving closer to the surface.

Suddenly it burst through the water, blinding Misty temporarily with little water droplets. Misty wiped them out of her eyes and blinked a few times. What was in front of her definitely wasn't an Alomomola. And it wasn't a Pokémon Misty knew from the Gym either. But it definitely was a Water Type. And it was smiling at her!

And now she knew where the red spot was coming from. It wasn't a Tentacool, though it was a similar shape. But this Pokémon had a little red crest on its chest.

"Hi, do you wanna play with me?" Misty asked, more than a little out of breath from all of the swimming.

The Pokémon blinked, the smile never leaving its face, and nodded before returning immediately under the water's surface.

Misty smiled too. This was such a pretty Water Pokémon! It had frilly little appendages that looked almost like a dress and it actually wanted to play with her. It was like a life-size doll she could play with.

"Do you want me to follow you?" she called out to it, hoping that it could hear her.

From what Misty could tell, the Pokémon kept on smiling at her, so she took that for a yes and took a really big breath, following it under, just a little bit, though. She couldn't even swim to the bottom of the deepest part of the Gym's pool yet, so she knew better than to go too deep. Besides, the Pokémon was just a few feet underneath, waiting for her. She just swam to it and smiled at how its dress-like form floated in the water, just like her own dress did; wetted with water, yet able to flow in the waves like it weighed nothing.

Misty trod water in the same place for a little bit but she felt her breath beginning to become short. So she started kicking her legs to get back to the surface. But then she noticed the water beginning to turn purple around her. It was the darkest right around the Pokémon and seemed to be spilling out of it. Was it scared? Misty knew that some Pokémon used ink when they were scared, but what did it have to be scared of? Her?

But she didn't want to scare the Pokémon away just because she was kicking around it so instead she tried to float slowly to the surface. But she wasn't floating as easily as she usually did. Maybe she didn't have enough air left in her to float? She tried just using her arms but she found that they were reluctant to move, as though the water were as thick and hard to swim through as syrup. But the water didn't feel different, it only looked different.

It was her that felt different. Her head felt light and her arms felt stiff and tingly. She must have been under water too long. She wanted to scream or cry for help but she knew that that would get rid of the last bit of precious air that she had in her so she tried to muster up all of her strength and kick her way to the surface but she couldn't move.

Not knowing what to do, she looked over at the Pokémon, her new playmate. Maybe it would help her. In the past whenever Misty had gotten hurt or started crying Pokémon around her would rush to help—they were always so nice and always knew when something was wrong.

But this Pokémon…was still smiling. Its expression hadn't changed since she had first seen it, save for the occasional blink when they had been above water. It was starting to scare her.

Why wasn't it helping her? And why was it turning the water purple? Was that why she couldn't move? The panic was swirling around deep in her stomach as the purple water swirled in her vision.

Where was her mom? Where were her sisters? She needed them, she needed help, she needed…

Misty's head suddenly felt exceptionally light in the heavy water and her vision went spotty momentarily before going completely black. Finally she felt something other than inky water wrap around her.

Oh, good…Something was finally helping her…

She would be fine…She would be…

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, this one has been a long time coming. I've been writing it for about a year and a half and dreaming about it for a lot longer. A lot is written, but a lot is currently being rebooted. So chapters won't be months apart-I'll post on my profile if ever a long break is being taken-but they won't be regular either. But I'm gonna make this brief, because I have a lot of notes about the reading of this story, so before I get on to that, let me just say, thank you so much for reading!

Before anyone starts commenting on some of the choices I make in this story about timeline, location, distance, history, characters, etc., I want to say that this story is AU. I am trying to anchor basis in both the games and the anime as much as I can, but this story doesn't fall perfectly into any existing universe that the franchise has to offer. I am creating my own head-canon here as well as my own mythos. That being said, I am doing everything I can to make our characters in character for these sets of circumstances. I just want to take this time to address that I'm aware of the differences I'm making to canon as well as where I'm crossing worlds. I'm down to talk about these choices with anyone who's interested, concerned, or confused. But I ask that no one tell me that I'm wrong. I know that I am, but I've decided that these choices make a more compelling story. Thank you, if you read all this!

Cover image cred goes to MadeleineInk on deviantArt!


	2. Purple

.

 **Purple**

 _"Life is but a dream for the dead."_

–Gerard Way

* * *

 _Echos…_

 _Voices…_

 _Mom…?_

 _"Some things are alive and then, when they stop being alive, they're dead. You, Misty, are alive. See how you move and think and live? That's being alive."_

 _"Then what's dead?"_

 _"Death is what happens after you're alive. You don't move or think or do anything. Your body is still there but you are no longer in it. Understand?"_

 _"Not really…"_

 _No, not really. Her thoughts were all twisted. Twisted like a rope. Twisted like spaghetti. Twisted like a sick, empty smile bringing about nothing but pain and pain and pain. Twisted…_

 _But she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. So…was this death?_

 _But was she thinking or was this just happening? What was the difference?_

 _She couldn't see anything. There was just black everywhere. Like the inside of a Gyarados's mouth if you were wandering unknowingly and fumbled your way in. So scary. Then, slowly pervading through it, were wisps of purple, curling around the vacuum she was in. Tendrils moved toward her and while she couldn't feel them, she couldn't help but think that they were going down her throat, choking and suffocating her._

 _Not again…_

 _There was no scent, nothing to breathe. Only nothing to breathe. Could you smell nothing? If you're not breathing and not smelling anything is that the same as breathing and smelling nothing? What was nothing? Nothing was lost. And she was lost._

 _Everything was suddenly spinning—or swaying. Her eyes couldn't focus on anything, so she couldn't tell which direction she was going. All she could see was a sick mixture of black and purple, playing tricks on her eyes so she couldn't tell where one ended and one began._

 _Is a Zebstrika a black horse with white stripes or a white horse with black stripes?_

 _Nausea overcame her and she felt the need to heave, purge the purple dizziness out of her. In the whole world there was nothing but dizziness and purple. So were they the same thing? But she couldn't feel anything. So the wooziness didn't go away. No, she just kept spinning and spinning and spinning and spin…_

 _Round and round they go, where they stop nobody knows._

 _Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posy. Ashes, ashes, they all fall…_

 _A flash of red. Permeating through the endless night of black and purple was a dull red centering her vision. The dizziness came and went and the red dot was all she could see through the endless space. It seemed familiar. Purple was dizzy and red was not. That was good to know. She'd keep it in mind._

 _She wanted to walk towards the red. Red good, purple bad. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but she couldn't move. She wasn't even really there, was she?_

 _So was this death? Or…_

 _Or what?_

 _Somehow, someway, somewhere something became visible in the distance, as though she was moving forward but without the assistance of a floor beneath her. That was promising. She focused her energy on making her way towards that thing because even if she wasn't moving, it was otherwise working._

 _A world around her began to take shape. The haze of the dark swirls continued but, as they ebbed and flowed, they parted to reveal two parallel lines. Lines marked by mirrored perfect intervals on either side of her._

 _She was the middle. The balance beam with equal amounts of world on either side. But was she toeing the beam or was she the beam?_

 _A hallway. No ceiling, floor, or walls, marked only by the imaginary edges by which those sides would meet. And doors. Oh, so many doors._

 _At each crack where the doors met the would-be floors was a blinding white light that she couldn't look at, as it was so blinding against the dark backdrop of this world._

 _So, should she open a door?_

 _Innocent curiosity answered, "Yes," but there were infinite doors in front of her…And she realized that she wasn't just faced with that but there were also now infinite doors behind her._

 _Infinity plus infinity. Two infinity equals infinity but one infinity is bigger than the other. Then are the two prior equal? Who's to say? One infinity, two infinity. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Red good, blue…?_

 _In front or behind. That thought providing her maddening focal point, she didn't know how she could possibly choose which door to go through first. Or if she even could._

 _Curiosity finally getting the better of her, she turned her focus to the closest door on her left, being mindful to look only at the knob and not the blinding whiteness invading so very near. Purple bad, red good, white…? Good or bad or…?_

 _But unlike before, she didn't grow closer to the door, she grew further away. All of them began to vanish along with the purple swirls. They curled like smoke around the world taking them away like a smoke bomb disappearing act._

 _Wait! She still didn't know if this was death or life or…_

* * *

Beeping. What was that beeping sound? Ugh, it was hurting her head. The sound grew angrier and angrier, as though it was forcing its way into her skull and swirling her brain around like an eggbeater.

She groaned, or at least she tried to. It came out as more of a strangled hiss, as her throat was really dry. And then it hit her all at once.

Her head hurt. And not from the beeping, it just hurt all over to the point where it was throbbing, like it was trying to claw its way inside out of her. And the rest of her felt tingly. She wanted to squirm, shake it off, jump in a pool to wash it off but she found that she couldn't even really move.

But she could a little. So she opened her eyes and after a few blinks she found herself in an unfamiliar room surrounded by a few people. One in particular was wearing a white coat and made his way over to her with a smile growing on his face.

"You're awake," he said as he approached her.

"Oh, thank God!"

Misty flicked her eyes to where the new voice came from and saw her mother with her hand pressed to her chest and a look of relief flooding her eyes as tears leaked out.

"Mommy," Misty rasped, the word coming out more as puffs of air than actual vibration.

"I'm here, sweetheart," her mother said as she went to Misty's side and grasped her hand tenderly. Misty could barely feel it. Just a little pressure and warmth more than the specific feeling of having her hand held, but it was comforting nonetheless. "Your sisters are outside."

But who was that other guy looking out the window?

Misty swallowed a few times to try and lubricate her throat, ignoring the terrible taste that she found when she did so. She then was about to ask her question, but the man in the white coat beat her to it.

"I'm your doctor," he explained simply. "You had a bad time in the ocean and so we had to take you here to the hospital to treat you."

The doctor then went on to ask Misty a few simple questions. Most of them were really easy and as the time passed she began to get more and more feeling in her body, gaining her range of motion back as well.

So, even though Misty hated being in the hospital room and she still didn't understand all the random people that were in there, she grew more comfortable with the doctor. He seemed like a nice enough man, and her mother was still on her other side, rubbing soothing circles on her hand.

But then they got to a question that Misty didn't know the answer to.

"Do you remember what you were doing right before you woke up?"

Misty furrowed her eyebrows together. "I watched my mom do a Battle, then I played in my room while my sisters painted their nails, then I went to the beach," she ticked off, recalling each event as she did so.

"And then?" the doctor prodded.

It was getting fuzzy. "Then…I went into the ocean."

"And then?"

"…I don't know."

Misty's mom turned to her with a concerned face. "You don't remember?"

Misty turned her head towards her to the best of her ability. "I don't remember," she affirmed, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's alright, sweetheart," her mother soothed, petting her hair comfortingly. "You're fine, so it's alright."

"Yes, she appears to be fine, miraculously," the doctor concurred. "But we still need to give her an MRI to ensure that she doesn't have brain damage or fluid in her lungs. It's pretty standard for near-drowning victims."

She'd almost drowned? She didn't remember that at all.

Her eyes were still moist with tears and she tried to blink them away. Before long she was carted out of the room. She caught a glimpse of her sisters, who looked relieved to see her, for once. That put a slight smile on her lips, but mostly she felt unsettled. The doctor and her mom told her that she would be in a loud tube for a little while, but that it wouldn't hurt. She was scared of that, but something else was bothering her too.

There were strange people in this hallway too, just like in the room. And they all looked confused when she looked at them, just because she was being rolled down the hallway. She turned away from them and focused on her mother, who kept on giving her reassuring smiles.

Her throat still hurt and her head hurt unbelievably, but overall she was feeling better. The doctor had said that she was lightly poisoned and that that was why her body was paralyzed, which meant that it couldn't move. But they had given her an antidote and it was working quickly.

The doctor said he was confident that she would be fine, however unlikely it had been that she would make it out of her situation alive at all. She was lucky.

And she would be fine.

* * *

Well, she never wanted to do that again.

No, the MRI hadn't hurt, but it had been so loud and made her head hurt even more. And she had been stuck in there for so long. And even though the doctor had said that her mom couldn't join her in the room with her, she saw a couple other people step in. Eventually she had just closed her eyes and tried to relax as much as she could.

The good news was that now she was going home and would only have to go back to the hospital once more in a few days, assuming nothing went wrong.

She really hoped nothing went wrong.

And it didn't look like things would because her sisters were certainly back to normal. They were squabbling in the back seat while Misty got the rare privilege of sitting in the passenger seat. Usually only Violet and Daisy got to do that, and they both argued with their mom before finally giving in and letting Misty sit there. She was sick, after all, and they did feel at least a little bad. Daisy had even offered Misty a candy from the gift shop which she was currently sucking on gleefully as she enjoyed her first class view. At least being sick had its benefits.

Not that they outweighed how bad Misty still felt. She kept on coughing. The doctor had said that she had pneumi—pneumo—something that would keep her coughing for a while more. She wasn't happy about that, but the sucking candy was actually helping and apparently she was lucky that the cough and the headache were the worst of what she was dealing with.

They drove by the ocean. The same one that had tried to swallow Misty whole but had only managed to get a hold of some of her memories in its grubby hands.

"No more going to the beach alone, Misty," her mother said in a forceful voice as she caught a glimpse of Misty's wandering eye. "Ever."

Misty could agree with that. She didn't want to go to the ocean by herself again. As she turned her eyes back to the road she felt herself let out a breath of air she didn't even know that she had been holding. She then let out a painful cough, taking out her candy as she did so.

No, she wouldn't be going back in the ocean. Maybe not even in the pool.

"Okay, mommy," she wheezed as her cough began to trail off.

"No swimming at all until your pneumonia goes away."

"Okay."

Maybe she'd just stick to watching Pokémon Battles for a while. She turned back to look at the beach again. Maybe she'd just watch them on TV instead of by the pool. Yeah, that was a good idea.

Wait. That was different.

"Mommy, what's that person doing?"

Her mother spared a glance at the beach. "What person, sweetheart?" she asked.

"That person on the cliff."

Another quick look out the window and her mother frowned in confusion. "There's no one on the cliffs, sweetheart."

Misty was still looking out the window. That wasn't right. There was someone climbing the cliffs and jumping in the ocean. She'd never seen people do that before. It looked dangerous. But her mom was driving, so maybe she just hadn't gotten a good look at them.

Then, a few minutes later: "We're home, sweetheart."

Her sisters had already hopped out of the car and were impatiently making their way into the house. Misty hadn't even noticed her mom open the door and start unclipping her seatbelt. And now her candy was nothing but a little stick in her mouth. She pulled it out and handed it to her mom who took it and then picked Misty up to carry her into the house. Misty smiled. Her mom hardly ever carried her anymore.

"We need to get you some real food," her mom said as she set Misty down and tossed the stick into the trashcan nearest to the front door. "What do you want to eat?"

"Mac 'n cheese!" Misty answered immediately. That was what she always said.

"Okay."

Misty smiled, surprised. Her mom hardly ever said yes to that anymore. It made her wonder what else she could get. She quickly put on her sweetest face and looked at her mother with big eyes. "Could Brock come over too?"

That gave her mother pause as she thought over the idea. It was a great idea, though, if Misty did say so herself. Brock was older and very smart, so it was almost like she would have an extra person to take care of her instead of her mom having an extra person to take care of.

More importantly, though, he was her best friend. Kind of her only friend, if she was telling the truth. Her sisters said that all of the time, but she didn't like to think that it was true. Her mother assured her that she would have more friends once she started going to school. She had only been able to meet Brock and his siblings because his family had a Gym too. But they had a Rock Gym, so it wasn't as cool. It was fun to climb the rocks sometimes, though…

Misty shook herself out of her thoughts and turned back to her mother, from whom she was still awaiting an answer. Eventually she nodded. "I'm sure we can work something out with his parents."

Misty gave a little happy dance, jumping and spinning about the room. All of these perks! Maybe being sick wasn't that bad.

Suddenly she started coughing again, heaving as her body nearly folded in half at the middle until her chest felt like it was ripping out and tears came to her eyes. She even felt light-headed, which made her headache start throbbing again.

No. Being sick was really bad.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, I have a couple of things to say that I would have said last chapter, but that A/N was already days long, so here I go again! First of all, this story has two prevalent themes in it that were also integral parts of _Weather the Storm_ , another story of mine. For that, I apologize, but it'll be totally different from that story, I promise! Second is a kind of a _warning_ , I guess. I'm just going to say straight away that Ash doesn't appear in the story for many chapters and that this is an incredibly Misty-centric tale. Don't worry, though! This is totally PokéShipping and Ash will be here in plenty later. There's just pacing to it. And it will be all the sweeter with the wait, right?

Ehem, anyway, hope you enjoyed this installment! Yes, Misty survived! But what's next? Oh, and for something completely different, I'm going to thank my wonderful beta **C'sMelody** down here! Love you, girl!


	3. Imaginary Friend

.

 **Imaginary Friend**

 _"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."_

–Mark Twain

* * *

A month. A whole month and she was only just now starting to feel better. The headache had mostly tapered off a couple weeks ago, but that was all she had to show so far. Misty didn't even remember what it was like not to be kept up at night by wracking coughs. Her visit back to the doctor had just affirmed that she still had pneumonia and would a while longer.

Yeah, she could have told him that, and she couldn't even pronounce pneumonia.

Luckily, it had finally started growing weaker and Misty in turn felt herself getting stronger. She was even watching her mom's Pokémon Battles again. More than that, she had started wading in the shallow end of the pool. She rarely took her feet off the pool floor completely except for when she was riding Staryu.

Staryu. That was definitely the best part of being sick. Her mother had appointed one of the young Staryu to spend a lot of time with her. Particularly when she was anywhere near the pool. Staryu didn't have to be rehydrated that often since they had thicker, more armored skin than most Water Types, though, so she didn't have to worry when they were playing outside.

Her mother never said it, but Misty was starting to feel like Staryu was her very own Pokémon. Not her mother's, not the Gym's, but her own. She was too young right now, but maybe in the future…

She tried not to get her hopes up, but it seemed as though her very first Pokémon might be on the horizon.

In the meantime, though, it was the Pokémon's feeding time, so Staryu was eating and then would likely take a nap to recover from spending so much time with Misty so far today.

That left Misty idle and bored. Being sick limited the options of what to do, not to mention the fact that the beach was still banned. Not that Misty was sure that she even wanted to go. She still didn't remember what had happened before she had gone unconscious, so she was still afraid. And being afraid was worse than being bored. Furthermore, she couldn't go outside unattended at all.

As a last resort—as this was always her last resort—Misty headed over to her sister's dolls. No, they weren't appealing. There were some that she rarely touched because they had become so bedraggled through her sisters' overuse and under-appreciation. But using them to reenact Battles was the closest she could come to the real thing until she was older, so she settled anyway.

She was half-heartedly trying different Battle strategies for Staryu—if she extended all of the limbs of the doll to the sides she could almost imagine that it was the Star Shape Pokémon. Luckily her sisters were at school, so she could make all of the sound effects she wanted.

Finally she was starting to get into the Battle she had staged when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Something like dark, gray wisps. Instantly Misty thought of smoke and she darted her eyes over to where they were coming from while simultaneously shooting herself across the slick wood floor away from them.

"Mommy!" Misty cried out. "Mommy!"

But her mom didn't come. She was probably still in the Pokémon enclosures feeding them and out of hearing range. Misty was on her own. She took a deep breath and looked closer at the smoke.

It wasn't smoke, though; at least Misty didn't think so. There was nothing burning underneath where the tendrils were, so it couldn't be smoke, right? And it didn't smell like smoke either.

Then the…whatever it was began to change in color as it grew. It was still gray but then there was black and purple too. Misty didn't know why, but her stomach dropped as she saw that. Maybe it wasn't dangerous like fire but it was making her feel really uncomfortable.

She couldn't look away, though. While the swirls were frightening, they were also mesmerizing. And they seemed to be forming around one of the dolls. Suddenly, the doll's eyes glowed red and Misty scooted herself further across the floor. Now whimpering slightly, she called her mother again. Still nothing.

Red eyes, smoke-like tendrils. Was this a Dusclops coming to try to steal her body? Another shriek was about to bubble its way out of her, when suddenly the glowing in the eyes softened. Misty relaxed, mollified for the moment as they faded to an almost fuchsia color, much more friendly than the red. The wisps were no longer wisps either—they had coiled around the doll, becoming bigger, yet more compact, and were a monochromatic dark gray once again. Before her eyes, the doll began to change shape—its hair became pointed and jagged, more so than even the worst haircut her sisters could have given the doll, extending far out from the body. The legs became stubby and something glinted on its face beneath the eyes. Its mouth?

Strangest of all, though, was a straw-toned tail that came out of the doll. But this doll was a person and people didn't have tails. Only Pokémon…oh.

Misty's eyes widened and she gasped. "Are you a Pokémon?" she asked as the doll finished forming.

Her question was answered as the doll began to blink all on its own and experiment with moving its limbs. It was kind of funny to watch. The way it wobbled with uncertainty reminded her of some of the more land-based newborn Pokémon she'd seen at the Gym.

At her sniggers the newly formed Pokémon sent her a chilling glare that seemed to come much more naturally than walking. Instantly Misty quieted, but she was still curious. Then a chilling though recurred to her. "You're not a Dusclops, are you?"

From her sisters' description in that horrible story, she didn't think that this was a Dusclops. Still, one could never be too careful. Misty watched carefully as the Pokémon narrowed its eyes at her and managed a forced twist to its neck, which she took as a no.

Well, that was a comfort, at least. "What's your name?" she asked, knowing most Pokémon were good at answering that question.

"Banette," the Pokémon answered, its voice sounding irritated as it still tried to figure out its new form.

"Banette?" Misty asked to make sure.

"Banette."

"You just came from one of my sister's dolls," Misty told it, still in awe of that fact herself.

That inspired a different expression on Banette's face as it widened its eyes in what Misty guessed to be either disbelief or interest. "Bay?"

"Yeah, my sisters," Misty said, turning to point to a picture of the three of them on the wall. "See?"

Banette followed where her finger was pointed with its eyes. It stared at the picture for quite a while and Misty grew bored. But then an intriguing thought came to her.

"Do you wanna play with me?" Misty asked alacritously, her eyes sparkling at the idea.

That snapped Banette's attention back to her. After a moment, it looked just as excited as she did and Misty took that for an enthusiastic yes.

"Yay!" she exclaimed. "But we need to be quiet. I don't want my mom to find you in here, okay?"

Banette nodded its agreement.

"So what do you wanna do?" Misty asked. Banette looked back at her blankly. "Ooh, do you wanna have a tea party?"

Banette shrugged but smiled and Misty decided that that was good enough. She reached for the plastic tea set on the low shelf—she wasn't old enough to use the nice porcelain one—and began to lay it out.

"Okay, now we're going to pretend to be French, which just means that we're really fancy." Misty smoothed her clothes and sat up straight to demonstrate her point. "Ooh, we should give you a fun French name," she announced. "Are you a girl?"

It definitely looked like a girl. It did come from a doll—a girl doll—after all. And its voice was pretty high pitched too, so it had to be a girl, right?

Sure enough, Banette nodded.

"Goodie, because girl names are prettier." Misty sat for just a moment pondering how to come up with a French name—it would have to be French for a French tea party, obviously. Not a moment later she clapped her hands together as an idea occurred to her.

Misty hopped up and walked to where her coloring books were kept. She looked through her colored pencils—those were the best ones to use since markers bled through and crayons smelled weird—for the one that was closest to Banette's color. She picked up the black one. Close enough. She flipped it around until she found the metallic color name on it. _Black_ , _negro_ , _noir_. She knew the last one was the French one.

"Noir. Do you like it?"

Banette nodded, smiling and starting to look genuinely happy.

"Then your name is Noir."

Making her way back over to the tea set, Misty again smoothed her shirt down and picked up an empty tea cup and pretended to drink tea out of it as daintily as she could. She took only one sip and set it back down as a demonstration to Noir. She looked over at Noir expectantly.

Noir looked down at the cup and curled her hand around the small handle but her hand passed right through it, forming a fist instead. She tried again, clawing at the cup like it was air as Misty watched in shock.

"How are you doing that?" Misty asked bewilderedly.

Noir, however, began growing more and more frustrated. Finally she gave up and crossed her arms angrily across her chest and slouched. She gave a grumpy huff and then began to disappear down into the floor.

"Wait, where are you going?"

But Noir seemed just as confused as Misty was. Noticing that she was sinking, Noir's eyes widened and she scrambled to push herself up. Misty leaned over and grabbed Noir beneath her arms and pulled. This time, Noir managed to sit on the floor without falling through it even after Misty let go.

Misty, meanwhile, was looking at Noir with the most mystified expression coloring her face. "How did you…" Misty trailed off as she thought of more stories that her sisters had told her. All of the mean stories that they used to tease her when it was dark, when she was going to sleep and they were still staying up. They always kept her awake and afraid.

 _Ghost_ stories.

So maybe she wasn't a Dusclops, but maybe she was still a…

"A-Are you a ghost?" Misty stammered.

Noir just looked at her blankly. There was no way for Noir to know that any better than Misty did. But the more Misty thought about it, the surer she was.

"You are. You're a ghost."

Misty sat there for a while, hyperaware of the side of her body closest to Noir. Ghosts were scary. They had no souls, no morality and therefore did unspeakable things. They were always the bad guys in stories.

But Noir didn't seem that scary…

Misty almost leapt out of her skin when the door to her bedroom suddenly opened. "Misty?"

After scraping herself off of the ceiling, Misty turned to look at the intruder only to find her mother. Misty sighed in relief, her heartbeat returning to normal at the comforting sight of her mother. "Mommy," she breathed.

"I heard you talking," Misty's mom said. "Were you calling for me?"

"There's a ghost!" Misty blurted out, looking over to Noir, who had also started at her mom entering the room.

"Where?"

"Right there!" Misty pointed accusingly at Noir, who looked hurt by the action.

Misty's mom followed her finger to where Noir was sitting on the other side of the tea set, confusion pulling the corners of her lips down. "There's nothing there, sweetheart."

"But…" Misty darted her head back to Noir to make sure that she hadn't slipped through the floor again, but was met by upset fuchsia eyes. "It's right there," Misty finished weakly, confused as to why her mother didn't see what was so clearly right in front of her.

Crouching down to be on her level, Misty's mom touched her cheek to pull her face towards her. "Are you playing a game, sweetheart? With an imaginary friend and your tea set?"

Misty didn't know what to say. Her mom really didn't see Noir. She couldn't see Noir. Because she was a ghost.

So why could Misty see her?

"I…yes."

She wasn't supposed to lie. She knew that if her mom ever learned that she was lying she would be in trouble, but she didn't know what else to say. Her mom didn't understand so she didn't know what other answer to give.

"Okay. Well, our lunch will be ready soon. I'll call you down when it's ready, okay?"

Misty's mom patted her head with a smile and left Misty alone with her thoughts.

And, unwittingly, a ghost.

Hesitantly, Misty looked up at Noir, face scrunched nervously as though she was trying to save herself from getting a good look. She didn't see anything truly scary, though. All she saw was Noir's wounded face staring back at her. "Bay…nette," she said dejectedly.

"I…" Misty didn't know what to say. This was a ghost. A ghost that had formed out of a doll right before her and that her mother couldn't see. If that wasn't terrifying, then Misty didn't know what was.

But still…

"I'm sorry." It slipped out earnestly and truthfully before Misty could even fully grasp that the words had been spoken. But it lit a glimmer in Noir's eyes that warmed Misty's heart. "Do you wanna play our game again?"

The answer was a resounding yes as Noir again tried to pick up her tea cup. Her face instantly twisted as she again went right through the plastic.

"Here, let me help you." Misty scooted her chair around the table so that it was adjacent to Noir's. She picked up Noir's cup and held it to her zippered mouth tilting it only slightly so that the imaginary tea would only spill in a light flow. "Now don't make a sound when you slurp. It's not French-like. Sip like a lady."

Noir played her part, closing her eyes and smiling in satisfaction as Misty replaced the cup on its saucer, then giving herself a taste from her own. When she finished, she looked at Noir and smiled.

"Someday you'll learn how to do it on your own."

* * *

"Okay, Staryu, use Water Gun!"

Misty sat rapt as she watched Staryu—her future Staryu—let out a thin stream of water at a target. The blast was pointed far above the target so that it could travel farther in an arc across the Gym. The weak Attack, however, barely budged the target.

Staryu, however, was pushed back a lot by the force of attempting the Attack and was left tired at the end.

"Good job, Staryu," Fleur said, going over to it to give it a light pat on its top spike. "You're getting better every day.

It was true. Misty had been watching their training sessions every day and Staryu's Water Gun was going a lot farther than it was before, even if it didn't have a lot of power behind it. She knew that the Attack should be going in more of a straight line than an arc, somehow that meant it was more powerful, but still, the distance was impressive. The target was so far away that it looked tiny to her.

Misty was always interested in watching training. Even though it was repetitive, it was an important part of being a Trainer and besides, she wanted to watch Staryu's growth. But today was different. Today she was engrossed and watching her mother's every command rather than Staryu's every move.

Staryu was young, just like Noir was. That meant that Staryu was better to watch than Seel or the other Pokémon. But she watched both anyway just to try to catch any differences in training technique. She knew that they were there, but she could not for the life of her tell what they were.

"Mom," she asked as Fleur stepped back to give Staryu, and herself, a break, "can I ask you something?"

Fleur was wiping the sweat from her forehead and taking heavy breaths. Battling didn't look heavily taxing to the untrained eye, but good Trainers—like Misty knew her mother was—actually put a lot of exertion into their teamwork. After a second she went over to sit with Misty on the bleachers, looking happy to sit down. "Of course, sweetheart."

"How do you Train baby Pokémon versus older Pokémon?"

Fleur took a second before responding, "Well, you have to give them breaks often so that they don't get too tired," she started, gesturing over to Staryu, who was now floating leisurely in the pool. "It also keeps them from getting frustrated when they are struggling with something."

Misty nodded. That was a good idea.

"But I guess the most important thing," Fleur was now absentmindedly stroking Misty's back, speaking slowly and thoughtfully in turn, "is to keep the commands simple to things that they understand. For example," again Fleur gestured to Staryu and the pool, "I tell Staryu to aim its Water Gun Attack higher, rather than telling it to make its Attack go farther. That's an easier idea to understand. Do you see?"

"Kinda."

Keep the command simple. If Noir didn't know when she was going through something or not then that wasn't a good command to use. But she couldn't think of anything better.

Fleur patted Misty on the back. "Think about it and it will make more sense."

Misty frowned. She sure hoped so.

"I think Staryu's done for the day," Fleur continued, getting up and returning to the pool. "And I am too. I'm going to put it in its enclosure and get your sisters so that they can use the pool, alright? You can stay and watch them if you want."

Unlikely. Her sisters were probably just going to swim. Then Misty wouldn't be watching and enjoying, she would be envying the fact that they could go into the deep end of the pool. Not that she had wanted to since her incident in the ocean, but it still sucked not to be allowed to do something just because she was too young.

So Misty got up, fully intending to go and work with Noir, using the advice her mother had just given her when her sisters entered the pool room. Much to Misty's surprise, they didn't just dive right in. Rather, Violet brought out a PokéBall from a clip on her clothes and opened it into the pool.

Unconsciously, Misty sat back down and started to watch. She saw the white light from the 'Ball form into a Seel, but not her mother's Seel. It must have been the young one that had been born just a few weeks ago. And given to her sisters a week ago, Misty remembered with jealousy.

No, it was okay, because she would be getting Staryu in no time. Besides, the three of them all had to share the Seel.

"Okay," Daisy said, clapping her hands to draw the attention of her sisters. "I say we let Seel warm up first by swimming, like, get it used to working its muscles."

"Good idea, Daisy," Lily bubbled.

"Just not too long," Violet agreed. "We don't want Seel getting tired before we even start training him."

Maybe she would just watch for a little while.

Misty was surprised to see how much of her mother's technique her sister's were using. They were telling Seel to swim with its head down. Now, Misty could tell that this was supposed to be a Headbutt Attack or maybe a Tackle, but they never commanded an Attack out of Seel, who was too young to put a name to a move.

Furthermore, they gave Seel breaks to both swim around lazily and also lie on the ground by the pool; they were careful to make sure that he didn't get overheated.

What surprised Misty the most, though, was when Daisy actually jumped into the pool to work with Seel and began swimming beside him in demonstrations. Misty couldn't help the smile that rose to her face.

She was lucky to be in a family of such good Trainers.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, this was a tad more than 2 weeks. You can blame my _awful beta, C'sMelody, for that_. Just kidding, she's still the very best like no one ever was. Anyway, in this chapter, I have Misty make a brief comment about what it means to be a girl, and I would like to point out that I do not agree in this kind of genderization of people. But I would like to also point out that this is how young people are socialized in our society currently, and so that is how Misty would figure out what gender Noir is. That's all. *steps off soapbox*

Hope you enjoyed and are excited to meet our next main character, Noir!


	4. Loser

.

 **Loser**

 _"If you don't do wild things while you're young, you'll have nothing to smile about when you're old."_

–Unknown

* * *

She realized quickly that silence was the only way.

This whole 'Noir thing' was causing her a lot of problems. Everything was totally different, but she had to hide that anything was different. It was hard and confusing and she didn't know how she was getting away with it. But somehow she was. It was nice, though, that she wasn't sick anymore, save for a slight cough, so that nothing could distract her.

For some reason, her mother and her sisters weren't able to see Noir. They would ask her what she was looking at and she would just say "nothing." It was the only thing she could think to say, since she didn't know why they didn't already know that it was Noir.

At first, Misty had been content to hide Noir on the far side of her bed, away from her sisters' vision and interest. To make hiding even easier, sometimes Noir would vanish even from Misty's sight. She didn't know to where or why, but she didn't think about it too much either. It made her lonely, but Noir always showed up again soon.

Then Misty realized that she was being dumb. If her mom and her sisters couldn't see Noir, then why was she even bothering to hide her? So, Misty began gallivanting around the house with Noir in toe and without a care.

That morning, Misty went downstairs for breakfast, followed closely by Noir. All was normal except for the fact that today was pancake day—one of Misty's favorite days. So she eagerly made her way to the kitchen, as did Noir, who had taken up a certain fondness for syrup.

Her mother was working at the stove, her back turned while Violet was perched atop a tall stool at the kitchen island, happily eating away. Until she wasn't.

"What the hell is that?"

"Language, Violet!"

"But Mom, look!"

"Oh, my goodness!"

Suddenly all eyes were on Misty. Or approximately one meter behind her. Misty could tell that they were resting directly on Noir. However, she turned anyway and saw how taken aback Noir was; clearly she was as confused as Misty.

Noir was frozen that way for only a second and then closed in on herself as though she was a shy wallflower. Suddenly a slight blue glow surrounded her form—a look to which Misty had grown accustomed.

"Misty, did you see that?" Violet asked, a slight tremolo to her voice.

"Uh…" She didn't know what the right answer was. "No," was her best guess, because that had been how she had been dealing with the situation so far, but now she wasn't sure. They had seen Noir? But they didn't see her now? How was that possible? "See what?"

"Why, sweetheart, it was right behind you."

Violet and her mother turned to look at each other, twin looks of puzzlement on their faces. "Was it, like, a Pokémon?" Violet asked. "I didn't get a good look, but it seemed like one."

Fleur chewed on the confusion, trying to think through it. "It…it looked like a Banette."

Misty wiped her palms against her shorts. She didn't like this. She didn't like this one bit. She should have kept Noir hidden. But why did they see her today?

"A Banette?"

"It's a Ghost Pokémon," Fleur explained. "I've never seen one before, but they're said to come from the Hoenn region."

"Spooky."

"Mom," Misty interrupted, "could I eat my breakfast in my room? I don't feel too good."

Fleur looked concerned, walking over to Misty and putting a hand to her forehead. "Really? What's the matter?"

Misty looked down, trying to veer away from her mother's hand. "I don't know. Nothing. I just wanna eat in my room."

Fleur took a step back and continued to eye Misty carefully. "Of course, sweetheart. But be sure to tell me if you feel ill."

"I will."

Misty picked up her breakfast, which was already heaped and steaming on a plate, thanks to her mother. She was careful to take a little extra syrup for Noir before scurrying back up the way she'd come. She closed the door to her room quickly, thankful that both Daisy and Lily were at sleepovers at friends' houses.

She set the food down unceremoniously on her bed and looked at Noir bewilderedly. "What just happened?"

Noir, however, didn't have any more of an answer than Misty did. But unlike Misty, Noir shrugged it off and reached for a pancake, dipping it lavishly in some syrup. Misty watched her do so, curiously noting that the glow that had been surrounding Noir's body for the last few minutes faded away.

"Noir," Misty started uncertainly, "why do you glow sometimes?"

Hesitating with the pancake, Noir threw Misty a confused look. "Nette?"

"You don't know?"

"Banette."

"Do you feel different?" Misty asked, trying another angle.

Misty could see that Noir was really thinking about it, but after a moment she shrugged her shoulders in a way that clearly said, "Maybe?"

Misty sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere and she hated not understanding. It made her feel left out. But she was frustrated and didn't want to deal with it anymore, so she took a pancake of her own, not even bothering to put syrup on it. She then took her anger out on the bread by ripping it with her teeth and a snap of her neck and chewing vigorously.

It was pretty pathetic, but it made her feel a little better until her jaw started to hurt.

But even as she tried to forget about it, she felt her resolve grow.

She was going to figure this out.

* * *

A few days passed, and nothing. No new discoveries but, thankfully, also no more drama. Misty had returned to hiding Noir until she figured this whole glowy thing out. But that also meant becoming quite the recluse. She mostly left the room for food and observing battling and training, and she rarely went outside.

"Misty, you don't have to be, like, always in our room," Lily said while Daisy did her makeup.

But Misty was sitting on her bed, looking down at Noir, who was crouched on the far side, keeping herself out of sight. This was what she had been spending most of her time doing when her sisters were home.

Never had she been so glad that her sisters chose to do a lot of things without her, outside their room and outside the Gym. Usually she felt left out but now it was a relief not to have to work so hard to hide Noir. Especially when she didn't know when she really needed to. Fortunately, they were getting ready to go out right now. Unfortunately, that meant that they had already spent an hour and a half working out what they were going to wear, their hair, and now their makeup.

"Yeah, you should hang out with the neighbors' kids more. Make some friends. Get out of the house," Daisy suggested, maintaining strong eye contact with one of Lily's eyes.

"Why should I?" Misty asked with a pout.

"You don't want to be a loser," Violet stated simply, flipping the page in a magazine.

"Vi, I was looking at that page!" Daisy hastily stole the magazine out of Violet's grasp and folded it back to the page she wanted. "Do you want me to make Lily look like a Jynx?"

Violet sat back in a huff. "It's my makeup," she grumbled.

"Seriously, Misty," Daisy said, returning to Lily's face, "if you act like this when you start going to school then you're not going to have any friends.

Misty frowned, clenching her comforter between her fists. It wasn't enough, though. She still felt a few angry tears heating up her eyes. She tried to blink them back; she would not cry in front of them. She focused her vision on a particular bubble on her printed bedspread, trying to ensure that it wouldn't blur any further.

Suddenly, her blue bedspread turned purple in her vision. She looked up and noticed that the purple had taken over the whole room.

"Ow, what is that?"

"Like, I don't know!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Misty noticed a red glow. Noir's eyes were glowing red. Like she was attacking or something. "Stop it!" she cried to her.

Abruptly the purple faded from the room and Noir's eyes returned to normal.

"Holy crap, what was that?" Daisy asked, holding her head. "Misty, are you okay?"

Misty looked at her sisters, who all seemed to be in some level of pain. "I'm fine. A-Are you?"

The three sisters looked at each other. "Yeah, fine, I think," Violet said. "But what was that?"

Misty didn't dare spare a look at Noir. "I don't know."

"Okay; well, we should go downstairs and see if Mom experienced any of that or if it was just up here," Violet said.

"See if the Pokémon are okay too," Lily added.

"Misty, like, scream if something like that happens again, alright?"

Misty nodded at Daisy, though she was pretty sure that it wouldn't happen again. Once her sisters left the room she finally looked to Noir. She had no idea what Attack that had been, but she was certain that it had been one.

"Noir, why did you do that?"

Noir huffed and turned away, crossing her arms.

"Why did you attack my sisters?"

Noir's eyes narrowed a little.

That gave Misty pause. Maybe she couldn't understand Noir's language yet, but she was getting really good at reading even little changes in expression. "Do you not like my sisters?"

She knew the answer as soon as she asked it. It was obvious; in fact, she didn't know how she had missed it before. Any time she mentioned her sisters, Noir's expression changed to the one that she was holding now.

"I know they're mean sometimes but you can't use Attacks on people. Any people, okay? It hurts them more than Pokémon."

Reluctantly, Noir nodded.

"Pinky promise?"

Noir extended her hand and the two of them partook in a pinky shake as best they could with Noir's tiny fingers.

"I love my sisters," Misty said quietly after a moment. "We always love our family. They were nice just now and they really are sometimes. Just watch and you'll see."

Her sisters would likely be back any second—assuming Noir's Attack hadn't spread to downstairs. Was Noir strong enough to do something like that? Wasn't she just a baby? Misty wasn't sure, but she had one more thought that she had to share with Noir before her sisters came back and she had to go back to the silence she was becoming trapped in.

"I don't know how we can hide forever but right now I don't know what else to do," she admitted. "We can't have anything weird happening or else you might not be able to be here anymore. I don't want that to happen. You're my best friend."

Noir's previously emotionally barren eyes filled with human feeling. She hopped up on the bed, taking a risk and joining Misty in a hug. Misty reveled in a moment of Noir feeling solid and real. Reluctantly pulling back, Misty smiled, saying, "Okay, now let's work on this glowy thing until they get back."

* * *

Weeks flew by and there was no progress with the glowy thing, which was causing Misty and Noir endless frustration. But Misty knew that today wasn't the day to worry about it; she had other things to worry about.

"Girls, it's time."

Ah, yes, time. Time for hesitation, time for waffling. Most certainly not time for what that pressing tone in her mother's voice was insinuating.

"Time to go to the beach!"

Ah, yes, the beach. A sandy haven of bliss and bliss-inducing creatures, once upon a time. Two months ago, when life had been so simple.

Ugh. Being a five-year-old was hard.

Suffice to say, it was not simple anymore. Now Misty felt like the poor rope in a vicious game of tug of war. Yes, she wanted to go the beach. Desperately. She hadn't been in so long that her body didn't know what to do. It was as though prior to the accident Misty had been living an amphibious lifestyle and now all of a sudden she was forced into a strictly terrestrial one and her body was completely rejecting it.

But…she was also afraid of the beach.

If she didn't remember what had happened to her last time—the dreaded last time—then who was to say that it wouldn't happen again?

Well, her mother and her sisters would be there—that was a good start. And they wouldn't know this, but Noir would be there too, keeping the buddy-system in play. Lastly, Misty was lucky enough that her mother was letting her bring Staryu along as well. Even though she was pretty certain that she wouldn't be going swimming today.

Really, there seemed to be very little way for something to go wrong. At least, as terribly as before. Which was why, after her mother's third call, Misty slipped on her baby blue swimsuit and leapt into the car before she could change her mind again.

It did change. Over and over again as she was in the car and looked out at the familiar sights. Her mind was flipping so much she felt a mental seasickness that made the idea of going to the beach even less appealing. Until they parked and she perked up.

The beach! Oh, how she had missed it.

As soon as her feet hit the cool sand, she waved up at the familiar Wingull and Pelipper, who squawked their returned greetings.

"Hold on, Misty." Fleur was struggling to haul out a cooler containing their water and packed lunches for the day. "You can't just rush out on your own; you have to wait for us to set up first."

Truth be told, Misty didn't want to wait anymore. She wanted to run around and explore. Maybe climb the jagged rocks or see how deep she could go into the water before she got too scared or too cold. But one look into the darkest blue of the ocean where it met the horizon gave her pause.

Right. Maybe she would wait.

Misty struggled with carrying the long umbrella that was handed to her. She let the wooden handle drag through the sand, adding a little zig-zag to her walk so that she could make a fun pattern in the sand. It also took some weight away from her arms.

After a few minutes they had set up a delightful home base. A large blanket under the umbrella for Fleur to rest under and three towels laying parallel for Violet, Daisy, and Lily to tan on.

Misty had Noir hide on the top of the car for the journey, latching onto the racks and enjoying the steady breeze. Now she was hiding by the car until she and Misty could make a break for it. Of course, Misty had to stay in the sightline of her mother, but that didn't mean that she and Noir couldn't be clever about hiding. And if worse came to worse they could risk Noir being in the open and just pray that she wouldn't be visible.

"Misty, why don't you go test the edge of the water? You can search for the shells and Sharpedo's teeth that you like to collect," Fleur suggested as she got settled in with a book.

Fleur then reached into her bag and pulled out a PokéBall, pushing the center button to release Staryu. Staryu formed right next to Misty and she joyfully took hold of its closest arm as best she could and pulled it to the water's edge. She stopped the second the sand turned hard and textured with the remains of high tide. It was closer to low tide right now, revealing a number of interesting specimens for her to pick up. Most were just pieces of common shells, but there were some in pretty colors and the occasional bits of sea glass.

The shore was fun. Not a ton of fun, but enough fun. And she wasn't going in the water. She shivered whenever it accidently licked her toes, though whether it was the chill of the morning water or the fear tickling at her chest that did it was anyone's guess.

Before she knew it, she had wandered a far ways away from where her mom and sisters were. They were still in her sights but she would have to yell pretty loud for them to hear her. But she wasn't breaking the rules. By now she had a pretty good collection of shells and stones and a couple teeth and was thinking about heading back to drop off her haul. But something caught her eye up ahead.

There were tall, jagged cliffs bookending this particular beach, leaving it pretty enclosed and pretty private when it wasn't prime beach time. It was still a little cold for the tourists to be swarming, so Misty's family was the only one around.

Or so she'd thought.

There up ahead was a boy sitting on a rock, jagged like the cliffs in the distance, but low. Low and sloped enough to climb up onto. And she still had her shoes on, so why not give it a go?

She carefully set her shell collection in a pile in the sand before hoisting herself up onto the lowest part and walking up the gentle incline on all fours for extra balance. Both Staryu and Noir joined her, of course. Misty kept her eyes on the boy the whole way. He looked like he was older than her but younger than her sisters. So maybe he wasn't too old to play with her? When she was just a few feet away she said, "Hey!"

The boy turned around, startled. "Wha-What?" he asked with wide eyes, his body now curled in on himself.

Misty smiled genteelly. "I was just saying hello."

"You…you can see me?"

Misty cocked her head. "Of course? Why wouldn't I, silly?"

The boy shrugged, his eyes sad as he looked back out at the ocean. "Nobody else can."

"Really?"

"Yeah," the boy mumbled into his arms as he pulled his knees to his chest. "My parents stopped talking to me and none of my friends want to play."

"Your parents don't talk to you?"

"They don't even talk about me anymore."

"That doesn't make sense," Misty decided with a frown. But soon her frown turned back into a grin and she took the boy's hand, taking him by surprise. "Well, you can play with me!"

"Really?"

"Sure!" Misty declared. "Do you wanna swim?"

The boy took his hand back and again closed in on himself. "I can't swim," he muttered.

"Really? But you're so old."

"I'm only seven!" the boy said defensively. "Lots of people my age can't swim."

"I'm five and I've been swimming for a long time," Misty said, puffing out her chest.

"By yourself?" the boy asked skeptically.

"Well…" Misty blushed a little, looking to Staryu and avoiding Noir, who was laughing at her. "I can by myself, but right now I'm not allowed to."

" _Sure_."

"I can!" Misty yelled a little too loudly.

"Misty, get down from there!" Misty heard her mother's voice from the distance. Her sisters were fast approaching. Misty started crab-walking down the rock, shooing Noir away to the other side as she did so. Staryu floated off and soon it was just the boy alone on the rock again.

"I don't see why he gets to be up there by himself without his parents," Misty grumbled to herself, crossing her arms in a huff as her sisters came over.

"Misty, you can't do stuff like that," Daisy said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Mom only said that I couldn't swim," Misty whined.

"Well, you can't climb rocks either. Feel this," Violet said, taking Misty's hand. She pressed Misty's open palm lightly against a rough side of the stone. "Feel how that pokes you? Imagine falling on that. You would get hurt."

"And it would totally scar," Lily added.

Violet and Daisy nodded seriously.

"Let's go back and, like, have a drink of water, okay?" Daisy said, taking Misty's other hand and leading her to where Fleur was.

"And, like, have you even let Staryu in the water?" Lily asked, looking at the Pokémon, whose jewel core was looking a little dim.

Misty looked at Staryu guiltily. It had been walking in the water but only the bottom few inches or so of its lower spines had made it into the water.

"You need to be more careful," Violet said.

"Here," Daisy said in a kinder tone, "how about we, like, play here in the water for a little bit and get Staryu all nice and wet, okay? Get you used to the water again too, hmm?"

Misty perked up, agreeing readily. If they just played like that then it would be more akin to running through a sprinkler than actually playing fast and loose with the ocean. "Okay!"

Suddenly, all of Misty's focus was on her sisters, Staryu, and the returning joy of the ocean, everything that she was dealing with before now forgotten.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you C'sMelody, for being such an awesome beta that you aren't afraid to tell me when the tone is all wrong for 2/3 of the chapter. Hopefully. I improved it a little! Anyway, I'm stuck in a 10 hour rehearsal right now, so I thought I'd be productive and post this chapter! Hopefully you liked it!


	5. Scorch Marks

.

 **Scorch Marks**

 _"Let yourself move to the next chapter in life when the time comes. Don't remain stuck on the same page."_

–Unknown

* * *

She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it before.

She had been in the pool the next day, crawling along the edge, working her way farther and farther, the water reaching higher and higher until it was nearly at her shoulders, when suddenly the thought struck her.

"Oh!" Her hands flew off the pool wall as they went up to her mouth. She splashed back into the water and found herself treading water with the floor of the pool far below her for the first time in weeks.

"Misty, are you okay?" Fleur asked, quickly rushing from her perch on the bleachers to the pool. Before she could do anything, though, Staryu swept underneath her and brought buoyancy to the both of them.

Misty sputtered a little bit and wiped her bangs from her eyes. "I'm okay."

She was surprised to find that that was true. She wasn't even scared. Of course, Staryu had saved her before she'd gotten the chance to panic, but she didn't think that she would have. That was an exciting thought. "Mommy," she asked hesitantly, "can I swim a little?"

Fleur raised her eyebrows. "You want to?"

Misty nodded. She could do it.

Fleur held Misty's underarms as Staryu floated out from under her, moving to her side. Tentatively, Fleur lowered Misty back down into the water, where she naturally began treading water again.

The beach had been good for her. Sure, the water had been cold but she was generally used to that. But she hadn't wanted to swim. The ocean had current, so it was way harder than swimming in a pool, even with Staryu, her sisters, and her mother there to save her.

But now it just felt so natural again. A wide grin spread on her face as she felt the softness of the smooth water flow over her limbs as they kept her afloat. This was where she belonged.

Her thoughts began to wander as the focus on her limbs faded easily to the background. Immediately they wrapped around the thought that had caused her to lose her balance in the water in the first place.

The boy. Yesterday. He had been glowing. Just like Noir.

She'd been thinking about him just because she remembered that she had forgotten to play with him after her sisters had started to play with her. It was just that they didn't do that a lot and so she had wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

Maybe she was just so used to seeing it now that it hadn't struck her as strange. But it should have. People didn't glow. Only Noir glowed. So what did that mean? He couldn't have been a Pokémon, right?

She wished that she had spent more time with him. Maybe she could have learned something, or he could have told her something. If nothing else, he probably would have been fun to play with, and she'd never even gotten the chance to do that. Boys were always more fun to play with anyway; they had better games.

Well, at least now she knew better. She would keep a special eye out for glowing people.

"Misty, do you want to try swimming back over to the shallower section?"

Misty realized then that she had been treading water in the same place for several minutes. Her arms and legs were starting to hurt. She was out of practice, after all. So she doggy-paddled her way over to the part that was shallow enough for her to stand in if she stood on her tip-toes.

She walked and swam around for a while longer, reaching for Staryu for the occasional break when her limbs began to tire. She was really proud of herself to be doing this again. This was bringing her one step closer to being a Gym Leader, after all. That was important business and her number one objective.

"Mommy, I'm tired."

Well, one could only last so long.

Fleur reached down and scooped Misty out of the pool, urging Staryu to jump out as well. "Misty, I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Misty said as she took the towel her mother handed her and began drying herself off.

"Staryu has been your near constant companion for a couple of months now," Fleur began. "And you have learned to take very good care of it, I've noticed. You two work well together."

Misty felt her heartbeat speeding up. In the good way, which was exciting. "Yeah?" she urged, a broad smile splitting on her face.

"Yeah," Fleur echoed, her face perfectly matching Misty's. "It's time you had your first Pokémon."

"Yay!"

Misty began jumping up and down, her towel falling forgotten at her feet as she took off and began running in circles.

"No running near the pool, Misty," Fleur chastised, albeit with a lilt of laughter in her tone.

Misty circled back, returning to Fleur, and took her legs into a huge hug, squeezing her mother's kneecaps painfully together as she did so.

"Ow. Okay, sweetheart." Fleur bent over and with effort lifted Misty so she was standing on the bleachers and gave her a real hug. "Now, this comes with conditions, okay, Misty? Staryu will still sleep with all the other Gym Pokémon and either your sisters or I have to be with you when you're training, okay?"

"Okay!" Misty eagerly nodded her head along.

"And no using any Attacks outside of training for any reason whatsoever, okay?"

"Okay!"

Then Fleur smiled, her eyes softening. "And make sure to have fun. This is a big deal, okay?"

Oh, it was a big deal, alright. Never had there ever been a bigger deal in the history of the whole world.

"Okay!"

* * *

It was a good day. It was a good week. No, life was just good in general. It was a wonderful time to be alive!

These thoughts circled Misty's head as she lay blissfully on her bed, limbs strewn to the side so she was taking up the whole bed. As if she was making a statement that the whole world was hers.

And right now it was. Because she was sitting on top of it—on top of the world—as happy as a princess atop her throne.

She had her first real Pokémon. She had held the PokéBall—it was that real.

They lay in silence. Staryu was particularly hard to communicate with, given that it had no certain face and it didn't say any actual words. Not even its name, like most Pokémon. She could read its energy level approximately via the jewel in its center, but that was about all. Her mother had assured her that someday she'd be able to get a good sense of its actual emotions, but that it would take time.

Usually that kind of statement would cause Misty to have a fit, not wanting to wait for something. But right now she didn't feel like she was waiting as much as just enjoying what she had. Nothing could bring a damper on her joy right now. Things could only get better. And Misty had a distinct idea of what could make things better right in that moment. Her favorite thing of the past few days…

"Staryu, wanna go to the pool?"

Maybe Staryu couldn't talk, but the way it hopped up made the message pretty clear. Misty followed suit, practically leaping out of bed. She ran into her mother's room, where her mother was resting, and began banging on the mattress like her life depended on it.

"What?" Fleur mumbled as she was roused.

"Staryu and I wanna swim!" Misty blurted gleefully.

"Again?"

"Mom!" Misty insisted, somehow adding multiple syllables to the word.

"Okay, okay," Fleur said as she crawled out of bed, extraordinarily sluggish in comparison to Misty's boundless energy. "Let's go."

The three of them were halfway down the stairs and Fleur was halfway through a yawn when she said, "Misty, aren't you going to get a suit on?"

"Oh!" Misty laughed at her silliness. She'd gotten ahead of herself! "I'll do that right now!" she said, turning around and dashing back up the stairs to her room.

"We'll meet you down there!" Fleur called back.

As soon as Misty stepped foot back in her room something was off. Mostly the smell. It was acrid, bitter. Like…

Smoke.

A split second later her eyes went to the source. The photo of Misty's sisters that hung on the wall. Or used to.

Misty only saw the picture for a second. A corner of the wooden frame had begun to burn slowly, but it had quickly caught the corner of the picture. It curled and blackened and the whole frame clattered to the floor, sending the glass plate flying in pieces.

Misty screamed. She didn't know if the sound scared her, or the glass flying, or the burning object; she just knew that she was scared and she screamed. She had reflexively turned her head to the side, away from the commotion. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, and caught a glimpse of Noir, eyes red, zippered mouth frowning.

"N-Noir?"

Noir's eyes faded to their usual softer fuchsia. As the color softened, the expression did. Anger faded to sadness. For a moment. Then Noir faded from Misty's vision altogether.

"Noir?" Misty asked again, this time more desperate.

"Misty, what's wrong?" Fleur asked, panting heavily as she ran into the room. She didn't have to wait for an answer, however, as the smoke tickled her nose immediately, and the flame licking the wall drew her eyes. "Staryu, use Water Gun!"

Staryu had been floating in the air just behind Fleur, but it quickly maneuvered in front of her and Misty, letting out a thin spray of water, aimed at the burning frame. The Attack didn't quite land, though.

"A little to the right," Misty and Fleur said in unison.

With great concentration, Staryu shifted the Attack, landing right on the flame with a satisfying hiss as the fire was doused.

"That's enough, Staryu," Fleur said with a little cough as she waved the smoke from her nose and eyes. "Misty, you go downstairs with Staryu while I take care of this."

And there was a lot to take care of. First, Fleur opened the window on Misty's side of the room, to let the smoke disperse. Then there was the matter of the broken glass, the water, the picture, and scorch marks on the wall and floor. One where the picture had been hung, and two where the frame had fallen.

It was a mess.

"How did this happen?" Fleur muttered to herself.

Misty looked at the floor, but she didn't say anything. Before the guilt became overwhelming, she turned and made a break for downstairs, pulling Staryu's top arm.

* * *

Misty hadn't seen Noir for a few days. And she'd hardly left her room, save for that first day, so it's not like she could have missed her.

That first day Misty and her sisters hadn't been allowed back in their room until everything was aired and washed. Something about the smoke. Misty didn't really understand what the problem was, but she didn't like the smell, so she didn't argue too much about having to sleep someplace else. Besides, she had instead been allowed to sleep with her mother in her bed. That was exciting, so all was well.

Well, sort of.

Because Misty missed Noir. She was her best friend and she had just disappeared. And Misty had a sinking feeling that she would never come back.

Especially because of what was happening today.

It began with a knock on the door.

"Misty, can you get that?" Daisy called.

But Misty knew that she wasn't allowed to answer the door without her mother. She called back this to Daisy but, as usual, what Misty said didn't change her sister's plans at all.

"Mom isn't here, but she was expecting someone to come now, so get the door!"

In no position to argue, Misty went to the door, twisted the doorknob, and found herself face to face with exactly the kind of figure that she knew that she wasn't supposed to answer the door to.

"Hello, little miss. Is your mother here?"

"Uh…"

The man was very tall, wearing a black jacket and a black hat low down on his face. The only thing that gave her ease was that he was holding a PokéBall in his hand.

"Oh, Mr. Blaakman. Come in. Our mom's not here right now, but she said that she still wanted you to come. Here's your check." Daisy whipped a check out of the pocket of her short-shorts. "And we'll show you to the room."

Daisy led the man—Mr. Blaakman—upstairs. Misty trotted behind, confused and not wanting to be left that way. They stopped in front of the girls' bedroom. Daisy stated as much and opened the door.

The room looked much better than it had right after the disaster that had been the other day. The picture was gone, soon to be replaced, and the only remaining evidence was the scorch marks. They were lighter, as Fleur had scrubbed them as best she could, but now the wall needed fresh paint and the floor needed to be redone. But it was no longer the large eyesore that it had been.

"Okay, time to get to work," Mr. Blaakman said as he pressed the center button on his PokéBall. Out came a fuzzy off-white Pokémon with a squished snout. Definitely not a Water Pokémon, so Misty didn't recognize it. Although, she would bet that it would look pretty funny in the water. All that fur all matted down would be hilarious. She laughed at the thought.

Neither the man nor Daisy paid her any mind, though.

"Use Night Daze." A red energy began to slowly form out of the fuzzy Pokémon. "Now stand back, ladies. This is a wide range Attack, so if there's a Ghost Type anywhere nearby we can hopefully knock it out."

The word "ghost" instantly sent Misty's head spinning. Were they trying to attack Noir? But Noir wasn't here, so she couldn't get hurt, right? Misty hoped so. But none of this sounded good to her, not at all.

"Wide range?" Daisy asked concernedly.

"Yes. Low levels of the Attack will splash onto you, if you will, but it's never had any effect on a nearby human. Only if they get the brunt of the Attack."

"Okay." Daisy folded her arms, looking nervous. "So you think that this is, like, a ghost for sure, Mr. Blaakman?"

"Well, things don't just randomly burst into flames," he began, eyeing the scorch mark pointedly. "And Fire Pokémon shoot fire from their bodies. Ghosts that know Will-O-Wisp are the only Pokémon that can create a spontaneous fire from a distance, with rare exception."

"Sure," Daisy said absently.

The energy was reaching a wider range, spreading its jarring color around the room, brightest at the center, and fading as it went out. The color never reached them, but Misty could feel the presence of the Attack in the room. As it expanded the feeling got stronger, making her body tingle. The tingling intensified until it became like a scratch from her insides out. Misty collapsed to her knees as the pain suddenly sharpened.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. She needed help. She was screaming for help inside her head.

Then, as if hearing her silent plea, Noir appeared out of nowhere, floating in the middle of the room.

Misty was flooded with relief at the sight of her friend. Relief that was short-lived, though, because Noir quickly fell to the ground, writhing in pain similar to Misty.

"There it is! A ghost!" Daisy exclaimed, pointing at Noir.

"A Banette," Mr. Blaakman clarified. "Okay, Zorua, you can let up on the Attack, but don't let that Banette out of your sight!"

The Pokémon seemingly transformed from a white, fuzzy Pokémon to a black and red Pokémon.

"Misty, stand back," Daisy said before turning back to look at her sister. "Oh my God! Misty, are you okay?"

The pain was dissipating. Or at least it wasn't getting worse anymore. But she didn't feel the strength to get up. "The red," was all she said.

"The Night Daze Attack?" Daisy asked, pressing for clarification. "But that should have, like, barely even touched you." She looked desperately at Mr. Blaakman for answers.

"This has never happened before," Mr. Blaakman said immediately. However, he still looked grim. "We should take her to the hospital just to make sure. Zorua, keep an eye on that ghost until we get back."

Daisy gulped. "The hospital…"

* * *

Back in the hospital. It was like a nightmare. It was getting to be right up there with bugs.

She had been delivered quickly into the emergency room and now she was lying in the growing familiarity of a hospital bed. The searing pain from before had gone away. Now her body was more in the realm of having been hit by a truck.

Some tests had been done on her, ones like the last time she was here. No noisy tube this time, though. It seemed like nothing was wrong with her except for the remaining body trauma of the Attack. But why had the Attack hurt her when it hadn't hurt Daisy and Mr. Blaakman in the least?

"Are you the patient's father?" the doctor asked, turning to Mr. Blaakman.

"No," Mr. Blaakman said, taking a step back. "I just drove the girls here."

"I'm her sister," Daisy said, stepping up.

The doctor turned to her. "Can you contact a parent or guardian for us?"

Daisy shifted, looking down at the ground. "Uh, yeah."

The doctor looked at her expectantly but Daisy didn't move. "Are you going to…"

"She's on the fourth floor."

"I beg your pardon?"

Daisy took a breath, her eyes looking glassy. "She's on the fourth floor, cancer unit. Room 428." A pause. "As a patient."

"Oh," the doctor said. "I'll send the paperwork right up."

"Uh, Daisy," Misty said, her voice weak, "what are you talking about?"

Daisy threw a look to Mr. Blaakman, who nodded, stepping out of the room, leaving the two sisters alone.

"Um," Daisy started, her voice wavering. "Mom's, like, really sick, Misty. That's why she's been so tired. She's been going back and forth to the hospital for a short while now, but," Daisy swallowed, "it's not looking good."

"So, is mom dying?" Misty asked, the idea sounding foreign.

No words. Just a nod and a shudder of tears. Misty's eyes filled and the pain in her chest suddenly felt a lot heavier. Daisy leaned over and hugged her as best she could while Misty was stuck to the bed.

"Am I dying too?" Misty asked, the fear suddenly far more acute.

"No," Daisy said quickly with a shake of her head. "You'll be just fine. You'll be, like, great. It'll all be alright."

Misty nodded. "Okay."

"Uh, Mom talked to the Slate's a little while ago," Daisy continued. "It looks like you'll be staying with them for a little while. Probably once all this," Daisy gestured to the hospital equipment, "is over."

Usually going to Brock's was fun. He was one of her only friends and so she liked to see him. And Forrest and the little kids weren't so bad either. Pretty cute, usually. But this didn't sound like it was just for fun.

"I'm gonna live there?"

"Just for a little while," Daisy clarified. "You'll probably, like, go back and forth, depending on what's happening."

"Okay."

Daisy picked herself up, wiping her eyes. "Lily and Vi are upstairs. As soon as the doctors are sure that you're okay and can leave we'll go up and see her."

"And see her dying?" Misty asked hesitantly.

Daisy gave a half-shrug. "Not yet, but eventually...yeah."

"Okay."

But she wasn't sure that she could do that.

She didn't think she was ready to see death.

 **End of Part I: The Folly of Youth**

* * *

 **A/N:** Special thanks to C'sMelody for taking the time out of her super busy schedule to handle this guy. Let it be known, as it says just above, that this is the end of part I! Hope you enjoyed the end of child!Misty, because next time we see her, she'll be sixteen! And what a life she's been leading in those eleven years...

Thanks so much for reading!


	6. All in Good Fun

**Rating:** Upped to K+ for language at this point. Will be increased to T later.

 **Age:** This chapter is the beginning of part II, at which point a large time lapse occurs. Misty is now sixteen.

 **A/N:** Many thanks to C'sMelody, primarily for putting up with my shit and switching to talking about this story when we were actually having a meaningful conversation about world politics. Priorities. I'm so needy.

* * *

 **Part II: The Verdancy of Early Spring**

 **All in Good Fun**

 _"The past is a ghost, the future is dream, and all we ever have is now."_

–Bill Cosby*

* * *

Misty wiped the sweat off her brow grimacing at the sensation as it caused her eyes to water against her will. Unpleasant. Something that had always appealed to her about swimming was the complete lack of sweat. Not that sweating was the worst fate she could face—she certainly handled it better than her sisters did—but come on, nobody liked sweating. And she had to admit that it had been forever since she had sweated this much and, in all fairness, she hadn't been expecting it.

Then again, the Gym wasn't usually this hot. Or this God-forsakenly humid.

There hadn't been a challenger in days. And then in waltzes this experienced Trainer from Johto with her Typhlosion, looking to take on the Indigo League after battling respectably in the Silver Conference.

Damn Fire Pokémon. Misty always hated it most when a Trainer came in with a Fire Type Pokémon. Yeah, Electric and Grass were challenging for her Pokémon every time, but she was used to them. She expected them and trained accordingly. Easy peasy. Well, usually.

One would assume that Fire Pokémon were no problem for a Water Gym, especially with the added factor of a nearly fully aquatic field. But nine times out of ten, when a Trainer challenged her with a Fire Type, that meant that they had a trick up their sleeve and Misty had to prepare to be out-maneuvered, Type advantage or no. No one—youngsters with a Charmander notwithstanding—would pit a Fire Pokémon against a Water Gym without a plan.

The fact that those plans tended to include evaporating the pool certainly didn't help matters.

Of course, she still usually did win. But it was always a hassle and a half to get there.

Right now the pool was about half as high as usual and Misty kind of wished that she hadn't chosen a Pokémon that was essentially useless out of water. Sure, Frillish could levitate out of the water, but that took a lot of energy that she needed for the Battle, and it dehydrated quickly to boot. And it was definitely its strongest when completely submerged.

Still, Frillish was her ace. He could beat a Fire Type any day. Even this fully Evolved Typhlosion.

That didn't mean that it wouldn't be hard, though.

Typhlosion had the cute little trick of being able to heat the air around it, evaporating the pool without even having to fire an Attack and using very little energy. Definitely one of those pre-planned strategies.

Currently the Typhlosion was panting on its platform and Frillish was hiding as deep underwater as he could for a breather himself. Fortunately, not many of Typhlosion's Attacks could penetrate far underwater—they only evaporated it, not that Misty desired that outcome either—and Frillish's blue color was keeping him mostly out of sight.

Misty peeled her hair off of her sticky neck and her grimace twisted into a smirk. It had been tough, and mildly miserable given the heat, but she was about to win; she was sure of it. "Frillish, use Water Pulse! And aim for its back!"

"Typhlosion, light your back so that the water that hits will evaporate!"

Ugh, more humidity.

No, not if she had anything to say about it. "Frillish, you know what to do!"

Frillish popped out of the water, its body becoming enveloped in dark energy. Not a moment after Typhlosion's fire collar was lit it winked out, leaving nothing but thin wisps of smoke. The dark energy quickly faded from Frillish's body and it let out a concentrated stream of water, aiming for the spots from which the fire had lit.

Those spots were the hottest part of its body, charging its flame ability almost like an organ. Typhlosion's ability to heat the air throughout the Battle had created heat waves in the air, combining with the steam to make aiming a difficult task. Now that it was low in energy, she had her perfect window. Typhlosion let out a cry of pain once the Attack hit and Misty knew that it was over. Both Pokémon had suffered a lot of damage—as had her pool—so she knew that there would be no coming back from that move.

And she was right. The Typhlosion fell forward on the platform, rocking it in the water at the force. Frillish, for his part, fell back into the water, far less elegantly than he would have if he weren't so exhausted. He trod water to the best of his ability, clearly fighting for consciousness while the ref focused on the fallen Typhlosion.

The green flag lowered ten seconds later. "Typhlosion is unable to Battle. The Gym Leader, Misty Waterflower, is the winner!"

Misty quickly returned Frillish into his 'Ball and thanked him for a job well done. It had been a two-on-two match, but Misty's Staryu had been taken out surprisingly quickly by this admittedly talented Trainer, leaving the match almost entirely up to Frillish. He deserved a good rest.

After clipping Frillish's 'Ball to her 'Belt, Misty approached the Trainer. She was a little older than many of the Trainers that challenged the Gym, older than Misty herself—and it showed in her experience. "That was a fantastic Battle," Misty said, meaning every word. "You should be very proud of yourself, and your Typhlosion especially, for doing so well on a Water field."

The woman smiled gratefully, gracious in her defeat. "Thanks, I just never expected a Ghost Type," the woman said. "They're tricky."

Misty smiled. "Believe me, I know."

"And they're so hard to train," the woman continued as Misty ushered her out of the Gym. "You're clearly a phenomenal Trainer."

Misty shrugged. "Training Ghost Types has come naturally to me since I was young," she said vaguely.

"Then why isn't this a Ghost Gym?"

"Water Types are my first love," Misty replied with a smile. "Not to mention the fact that the Gym being Water-based was my mother's legacy."

The woman gave Misty that familiar sympathetic smile. "Well then, you and your sisters are doing a wonderful job living it out."

"Thank you." Misty gave a slight bow of her head in gratitude.

They reached the door and the woman made for her way out. "I know you're going to do great things."

Just like her mom. Misty knew that was the unspoken end of the sentence. A little tingle of warmth ignited in her belly. "Thank you."

After the Gym Battle was the perfect opportunity for Misty to clean the Gym. No, she hadn't planned on doing it and it would be a bore and a bear, but the humidity made everything so damp that grime would clean right up. So it was best she do it now.

Until she heard the doorbell ring.

Misty's head darted up from its focused gaze on the floor. Her interview! She hurriedly pushed herself off of her hands and knees and made a mad dash—or rather a carefully trod dash; the floor was still quite wet and she was barefoot—out of the Gym.

"Daisy! Lily! Violet!" Misty called as she tore off the clothes she was wearing, running up the stairs. "Can you get that and stall? I need to clean up!"

No time to wait for an answer. She hopped into the shower, doing her best to avoid getting her hair wet. It needed to be washed, but she didn't have time to let it dry again. She was going to have to blow-dry it a little as it was and even that was asking for time she didn't have.

After flying out of the shower she threw on the clothes that, thankfully, she had laid out before, blow-dried her hair, swiped on her makeup essentials—mascara, gloss, and blush—and darted back downstairs.

Whew, only about five minutes. That had to be some kind of record.

When she made her way to the lobby, walking calmly and trying to catch her breath, she saw Daisy talking to DJ Mary. Thank God she had listened.

"Misty, there you are!" DJ Mary said, turning to her. Daisy took her exit when the attention was no longer on her, catching Misty's eye contact and a grateful smile before going back the way Misty had come.

"Mary, so glad you're here," Misty said, hiding the deep breaths she was taking through her nose. "Let me show you to the living room."

Mary settled herself on the gray couch, flanked symmetrically by geometrically patterned arm chairs, placing her papers on the black coffee table in front of her. "This room is beautiful. It looks hardly lived in."

Misty looked around. Her sisters had been going for a chic, modern look when they had designed this room. Everything was angular and somewhere between black and white. Violet had gone through an interior design phase and she said that it had contrast to the color and waves of the rest of the Gym. Or something like that. "Yeah, the truth is that we don't spend a lot of time in this room," Misty said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Shame," Mary said with a shake of her head. "Okay, so you know how this works. Here's my recorder," Mary flipped on the small black device, placing it on the table, "and anything you don't want me to use, you just say: off the record. Good?"

"Great," Misty answered, sitting up straight and crossing her legs at the ankle.

"So, how long have you been the official Leader of the Cerulean Gym?"

"About four years," Misty said solidly. "For two years before that it was equal responsibility between me and my sisters."

"Speaking of your sisters," Mary started as she opened her notebook, "it seems battling has taken a backseat for them to things more focused towards the entertainment business, like modeling and commercials. What are your thoughts on this?"

Misty smiled tightly, clasping her hands together. "Well, I love being the Gym Leader, so I have no qualms against them going after their dreams. In fact, I fully support it."

"But you are fairly young for a Gym Leader—only sixteen—and the youngest in all of Kanto. It seems like a lot of responsibility for you to handle on your own, especially when you first started. Do you think your sisters should have left you on your own when you were that young?"

No. In all honesty, maybe they shouldn't have left a twelve-year-old in charge. "It would be one thing if they had been the Gym Leaders and then one day decided that I should do it and left me. But they didn't. We eased through the transition over years, which was really great of them."

"Very true," Mary said. "And this Gym has become one of the most renowned since you've taken over, so perhaps you were more suited for it anyway."

Misty smiled, but her eyes stayed expressionless. "Perhaps. But my sisters did a great job when they were in charge and almost everything I know I learned from them."

"It seems you think very highly of your sisters," Mary said with a kind smile.

"Yes. They're beautiful inside and out," Misty said with practiced ease, hardly feeling the words as they left her lips.

"Okay, so let's move onto your Pokémon." Thank God. "Everyone knows that you're a Water Pokémon Trainer. But your star Pokémon appears to be your Frillish, a dual Water and Ghost Type. This strikes many as unusual; do you find it strange?"

"A Gym Leader's star Pokémon is often a surprise," Misty said easily, glad for the change in subject. "And while I love all of my Pokémon equally and will use any one of them in any given match, I know that I can usually count on Frillish to give us that extra advantage."

"Mhmm," Mary hummed, looking down at her notebook. "But what strikes most challengers as odd is how much you lean into the Ghost Typing, rather than the Water. Can you explain that?"

"It's what Frillish offers that is different. I wouldn't train Frillish the same as I would train my Staryu or any other Pokémon."

"Well, since you handle the Typing so well, would you consider catching and using a non-Water Pokémon? Or have you already?"

"No," Misty said, carefully choosing her words, "I have never caught a non-Water Pokémon. I only own Water Types."

"Pity," Mary said with a shake of her head. "I'd like to see how you would be with a pure Ghost Type."

Misty laughed nervously. "Yeah, that would be something, wouldn't it?" Again, her hand went to the back of her neck, catching the hair that was there and pulling it slightly between her knuckles, embracing the slight tug of pain keeping her present. She couldn't wait for this interview to be over.

* * *

Misty practically leapt out of the house as soon as the interview was over. Yes, it was vital that she bought PokéChow today—she'd told her sisters to do so the day before when she noticed how low they were, but they had forgotten—but it was also such a relief to be out of the house. She knew that they hadn't meant to forget, rather they just didn't think like that. And Misty didn't like to stir up trouble with them, at least not all the time. As much as a good argument could be fun occasionally, it just wasn't the same when it was three on one.

So instead of making a big deal out of nothing, she chose to go the other way. Flight instead of fight. She had done it so much over the years that simply stepping out of the Gym always made a metaphorical weight lift off her shoulders, regardless of if she had had a bad interaction with her sisters prior to that or not.

Most people would find every day, Sisyphean tasks tiresome and nothing more than a chore, but Misty took comfort in them. It was true that they were a sharp contrast to battling, the other half of her job—and obviously the duller of the two—but she had decided to enjoy them a long time ago, lest she go crazy.

And that was how she was making her way down the streets of Cerulean to the local store, wheeling along a dolly. She would have loved to be able to make homemade food for her Pokémon, but she simply had too many species and not nearly enough time.

That and she had been told in the past that her culinary skills weren't exactly stellar…

No, this was definitely the best way to go for her lifestyle and for the sake of her Pokémon. Besides, based on the feedback from her Pokémon, this particular store had the best food. It kept them happy and healthy, so Misty wouldn't complain.

She opened the glass door, which greeted her with a ding, and made for the exact aisles where the foods were. She went about getting what she needed and made her way to the counter. The clerk smiled at her. "Heya, Misty, how's life?"

Misty smiled as she pulled out her wallet. "Pretty okay, Mr. Samon, and how are you?"

"Great! I actually saw a show of your sisters' yesterday and it was magnificent!"

Misty kept the smile to her face, albeit with a touch more effort than before. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I always enjoy your sisters' shows. Just beautiful."

"Yeah, so I hear."

Misty took her bags and left the store quicker than usual. Yes, the shows were beautiful. Yes, her sisters were actually very talented in the water and she had always admired them for it.

Envied them for it.

Blah, blah, blah, thanks for the reminder, _Mr. Samon_. She slowed down her pace once she left the store, taking joy in perusing the window displays of all of the lovely shops. With the rhythm of her comfortable pace, she went through the things that she had trained herself to remember at times like these. She could swim faster than them. And they had even told her that she was the better battler. That was enough—more than enough.

As she walked, she passed by a person with a noticeable glow around their body. She carefully kept her eyes trained forward, eager to get back to the Gym before feeding time—not in the mood for any interruptions. Fortunately, the person walked right past, and Misty gave a slight smirk as a shallow sense of victory filled her. Victory as though she had just pulled a trick over someone and they had no clue.

Not a moment later, she saw a beautifully designed poster for the water show from the day before. _Come see the three Sensational Sisters!_ Misty frowned, taking down the poster to recycle.

Yeah, life was pretty okay.

But that didn't mean that Noir wasn't going to hear all about it as soon as she got home.

* * *

Misty dropped off the PokéChow in their respective bins. Organized by each Pokémon in the same order that their aquariums were in—but far away so no Pokémon could get into them for a sneaky midnight snack. Because a midnight snack for a Gyarados is more expensive than most.

After hauling all of those heavy bags—which took multiple cartloads—all she needed was to lean back, relax…

"Hey, Misty, like, what's that on your back?"

Misty froze, shivers going down her spine as she suddenly felt a telltale tickle on her back. The tickle of something creepy, something crawly, something…disgusting. She screamed, smacking wildly at her back as she ran in no particular direction, just _away._

Meanwhile, Misty's sisters were doubled over in laughter. "Like, don't let the Spinarak get you," Violet called, wriggling her fingers at Misty as she made the humiliating walk back to where her sisters were.

"Sorry, little sister," Lily apologized—though she didn't sound particularly repentant—while wiping tears from her eyes. "You know that we have to do that to you every once in a while."

Misty flushed, her face turning red with embarrassment. "No," she said between gritted teeth, "you really don't."

"Oh, come on, Misty, have a sense of humor," Daisy trilled. "It's all in good fun."

"And since just telling you ghost stories doesn't work on you anymore, we have to get creative," Violet chimed in.

"How nice of you to mix it up," Misty said dryly, her adrenaline coming down and her sarcasm replacing it.

"Isn't it?" the three girls chorused, all smiling and looking pleased with themselves.

"Misty, it's because we love you," Daisy said, coming up behind Misty and placing a hand on her shoulder. The surprising touch made shivers go down Misty's spine again now that her senses were on edge, and she hoped to Lugia that Daisy didn't feel it. "You may be all grown up, but you're still our little sister."

Who knew that sisterly love could be so excruciating?

Misty gave them a half-hearted smile before rolling her eyes and turning on her heel. She figured it would be best to take her leave before they could get any more wise ideas.

"Don't worry, we'll think of something new for next time!" Violet called out behind her.

Great. She was so looking forward to that.

"Wait, Misty!" Lily called out as Misty made to leave the room. "Don't be mad. Here, look at what we got you when we went shopping!"

Misty opened a square bag and found a turquoise two-piece bathing suit. A bikini of the "leaving little to the imagination" persuasion. Still, it was nice, and it was the color that brought out the green of her eyes.

"We know that you usually like to use a one-piece in the pool," Daisy stated, "but this is for, like, if you ever want to go to the beach, or something."

"Thanks, guys," Misty said, touched by the gesture.

"Anyway," Daisy continued, though this time her eyes were darting hesitantly at her partners in crime, "we kinda just wanted to, like, lighten the mood."

That was suspicious. When were her sisters ever not in a light mood? Hell, they were so light sometimes you thought their heads might just up and float away. "Why? What's up?"

In practiced unison, the three tilted their heads and furrowed their eyebrows. "Oh, Misty. You don't remember?" Lily asked.

Misty narrowed her eyes, not appreciating the patronizing tone; especially from one of her sisters. "Remember what?" she asked carefully.

"Misty," Daisy put a caring hand on Misty's shoulder, "today's the tenth anniversary of Mom's death."

"Oh," was all Misty could say, suddenly very disconnected.

"Are you okay?" Daisy asked, giving her a little shake.

"Yeah," Misty said reflexively, blinking her eyes a couple of times. "Fine. Totally fine."

"So we're gonna go visit her," Violet said, pulling out a beautiful, professionally arranged bouquet of flowers.

Of course they were. That was what they did every year. The bouquet of perfect lilies, daisies, and violets, interspersed with baby's breath—to represent Misty—even looked the same as years past.

And just like every other year, Misty didn't want to go.

But with a sigh, and a solid gaze to the ever-comforting floor she said anyway, "Okay, let's go."

* * *

Misty maintained a subtle distance behind her sisters as soon as they left the house in their small cortege. It made it easier to hide the fact that there was an addition to their group, glowing and floating behind them.

"It's all in good fun," Misty muttered, imitating Daisy's high-pitched voice quietly. "You know, I blame you for this."

Okay, it was an unfair accusation. But life was unfair, so it was only fair to make unfair accusations once in a while, wasn't it?

Misty had her eyes narrowed at Noir, who was giving her a less-than-amused face in response.

"They never would have started with the bugs if it weren't for you."

That, on the other hand, was fair. With a ghost as your best friend it didn't take long to lose any childhood fear of ghost stories. Why Misty's sisters had decided to shift over to bug stories instead to keep her up at night with, however, Misty had no idea. Honestly, if it hadn't been for a childhood of her sisters taunting her with bugs, she doubted that they would affect her the way they did today.

Misty shivered, images of various bugs flying through her mind's eye, tainting the already dark funeral march. She turned to look directly at Noir, something she usually avoided when they weren't alone, focusing her vision on her as best she could until the bugs scurried out of her mind's eye. Noir made a face as though to ask if Misty was alright. In turn, Misty offered a half-smile. "It's all good. Better to be afraid of bugs than ghosts, I guess, right?"

Noir smiled. That was very true.

"You still with us, Misty?" Daisy called out, not even looking back.

"Yep!" Misty called out, raising her voice, her pitch going with it so she sounded almost like an echo of Daisy.

Noir gave her an amused look, the tone clearly not having missed her.

"Oh, shut up," Misty muttered.

The fresh silence quickly became stifling as the too-familiar path took over Misty's mind. They were approaching the graveyard, and rapidly. A shiver immediately wracked through her body, leaving her holding her bare arms, rubbing the gooseflesh away. She wasn't afraid, just extraordinarily uncomfortable. Why a graveyard? And why did they always have to go? Couldn't they just do something at home? Her sisters knew how much she hated graveyards…

"Okay, we're here," Lily announced, as though it wasn't obvious, making for the gate in the middle of the low, white fence. It was just for looks; the average person could step right over it if they just hopped a little bit—not to even taking in account the fact that the Waterflowers were all taller than average with legs for miles. But no one likes an open graveyard, so a cheap little fence provided an easy solution.

It didn't ease Misty's mind though. Because while a little fence could make the small plot seem like just another piece of scenery, discreetly hiding all the unsightly tombstones, they couldn't hide what was bothering Misty.

Because if walls couldn't stop ghosts, then a gate certainly couldn't.

It was a small graveyard, thank God, but on this particular afternoon, Misty immediately counted no less than a dozen ghosts either staring at their own tombstone in dazed confusion, crying over a loved one, or any one of a number of other activities she had seen more than once. But beyond that, she didn't look at them. Because she knew that the second she made eye contact with them, she would be found out. And that was the very last thing that she wanted. So, as usual, any person with that tell-tale glow around them was pushed out of mind, and she went to go join her sisters, trying her best to belong with them.

They had actually managed to gain quite a distance on her while she had hesitated by the gate. Misty quickened her pace, trying her best to catch up because the truth was that she didn't know where she was going. She never paid too much attention to which particular plot was the final resting place for her late mother; she was always too distracted whenever they came. But her sisters seemed to know by heart, so she went along with them.

Now that she was fully in stride with her sisters, she felt Noir drifting from them. This was for Misty's own good, she knew, but it did take away the presence of comfort that Noir never failed to bring her. But a Ghost Pokémon hanging around a human while glowing and presumably invisible would only draw attention to her; something they both knew that she didn't want.

"Here it is," Violet said, giving a little sniffle as she laid down the bouquet in front of the cold, marble headstone.

Misty hardly heard her, though. For Misty, Violet had been completely drowned by the song of the ghosts. Ghosts in a graveyard were unlike most of the other's that Misty had met, in that they were in a state of profound sadness—as most live humans were when they were in a graveyard. This sadness led people to primal sounds of grief, escaping their bodies with no accord for how they sounded. It felt like a universal elegy for all who had come to rest in this dark corner of Cerulean.

"Misty, do you want to say anything to her?" Daisy asked.

Misty realized she had fallen into a trance, staring at the less-than-comforting image of her mother's epitaph. Her sisters must have already spoken their words; laid out what life was so far in a couple of sentences. They were much more familiar with this than Misty was, after all.

"Uh, not really," Misty said, knowing that it would make her sound callous, but she honestly didn't care. All three sisters turned their eyes on her, making Misty shrink. "Why don't we just go?"

"Okay," Daisy said, stretching the diphthong, as if trying to fit in a paragraph of subtext. "Let's go."

With relief washing over her, Misty led the group, knowing the way out much better than the way in. So what if her sisters thought it was insensitive of her? They didn't understand. Besides, the only person who mattered in this scenario was her mother, not her sisters.

And Misty had a feeling she would be seeing her soon enough.

* * *

 **A/N:** *Just a brief acknowledgement that, yes, Bill Cosby is the scum of the earth, but I liked the quote, so I used it anyway. But in no way is he at all a decent person. He is the worst.

Okay, ehrm, _pleasantries_ aside, I hope you liked this chapter!


	7. Found

.

 **Found**

 _"Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what."_

–Salman Rushdie, _The Satanic Verses_

* * *

It turned out that Misty hadn't distracted ghost attention so much after all, the other day at the graveyard. She had found out that sorry bit of information at about 4AM the next morning when a sweet young man had nearly wringed her neck in order to get her to wake up.

And today she was on her hands and knees, digging in a stranger's backyard. All the way on the other side of Kanto. She was lucky that Brock had a Crobat that she could borrow, just so that traveling that far wouldn't take upwards of a week. As it was, it still took a few hours, which were only made bearable by a harness that Brock had created for the good of both Pokémon and Trainer. Even still, it was quite taxing on Misty's body.

She'd been there when he caught it as a Zubat. Brock hadn't been able to get away from the Gym a lot once he turned ten and his father ran out on the family. The very few times he could, the farthest he could convince himself to go was Mt. Moon, and even that was only so that he had the opportunity to train with some wild Pokémon. And so that Onix could stretch its joints.

These adventures had led to Misty becoming rather close to Brock's Pokémon, so neither he nor they blinked an eye at doing her a favor here and there. Plus, as Brock would be quick to point out, it would get Crobat some well-needed exercise.

Neither of them mentioned the fact that, in doing this, he was aiding and abetting a criminal misdemeanor. No, Brock knew by this point that Misty preferred not to mention it at all.

Now, Misty would have loved to say that this was the first time that she had played fast and loose with the law's rules about personal property, but alas, it was not. This was also not the first time that she had had to wear sunglasses—in the middle of the night—and hide her well-known red hair under a baseball cap. It didn't exactly look good for a Gym Leader to be seen trespassing on someone's property with a garden shovel, so the disguise was necessary, if slightly poorly constructed.

But apparently spectral beings had little care for her image.

When Misty had gotten over the shock of being awakened by a desperate man in her bedroom, she had recognized him as one of the ghosts from the graveyard. One who had been standing by a tombstone with a fresh bouquet of flowers much like her mother's. But unlike her mother's gravesite, his had had sunken earth all around it, as though the burial had been decades ago and gravity had taken its toll on the settling dirt.

When she had finally gotten him to calm down—which hadn't been an easy task—she had managed to wrench a bit of information out of him. The bouquet on his grave had been from his girlfriend, to whom he had been hoping to propose.

About fifty years ago.

And for some inane reason, fifty years ago he had decided that a hole in his backyard was the perfect hiding place for the ring.

Typical.

He had said something about his girlfriend running a very tight ship and there being no reliable hiding places in the actual house. Not that ghosts always gave many details. Either that or they gave way too many, never shutting up, clearly thrilled about having the chance to talk to someone who, they assumed, could help them. But with a random man in her bedroom, Misty hadn't had anything against him keeping his secrets and leaving a little sooner.

Until she realized that her lovely night visitor hadn't managed to tell her precisely where the ring was buried before he had vanished. No, no, that would have been too easy. So there Misty was, using a dull flashlight in the middle of the night so as not to draw any attention, and digging up every slightly loose piece of earth that she could find.

Luckily, Misty had Noir—whose vision was not inhibited at all by the dark—helping her, providing an extra set of eyes to look for a possible ring hiding spot. And, more importantly, an extra set of senses to calm her paranoia of getting caught.

Suddenly, Misty's hand hit something formed, something square—something tellingly not dirt. Eagerly, she cast her shovel aside and dug her nails into the dirt to wedge the box out of its hiding place.

"Noir, I think I found it!" Misty stage-whispered with excitement.

"Bay!"

Noir hovered over to her, a zippered grin of genuine pleasure on her face. Misty dusted off the lid of the box and flipped it open to find a sparkling engagement ring, shining as though it had been bought the day before.

Misty reached into her sweatshirt pocket for a note that she had written earlier. Now all she had to do was take the note and the ring and push them through the mail slot. Maybe after wiping off more of the dirt first.

"We did it, Noir!"

But Noir was no longer looking at Misty. Her smile had fallen upside-down into a sharp frown and she now was looking around the yard.

Misty instantly got off her hands and knees into a much more active crouch, whispering, "What is it?"

A rustling was heard in the grass from the direction of the house. Misty and Noir spun towards the sound, Misty pointing her light towards the ground, avoiding shining any light into an uncovered window. But the beam was weak, so she couldn't see very far, even upon lifting her glasses.

"What do you see?"

Noir's body reflexively began to glow as she answered, "Banette."

A Pokémon.

"What kind?"

She didn't have to wait for an answer, though, because out of the dark, a figure came to form, accompanied by a growled, "Bulba."

As a shadow, save for its blood-red eyes, the Bulbasaur was slowly approaching, its body low to the ground as though preparing to attack.

"Do you think that this Bulbasaur belongs to the owner of the house?" Misty asked, taking a hesitant step back.

"Nette, bay banette."

She was right. There was no time to find out. Suddenly, soundlessly, vines came into Misty's sightline, going directly for the box in her hand. Misty whipped around, the vines managing only to wrap around her wrist.

Misty struggled against the vines, but their hold was impossibly tight. She clamped the box shut and tried to use her other hand as best she could to wrench the vines away whilst keeping hold of her flashlight. "Banette, use Shadow Sneak."

She didn't want to have to attack a random Pokémon—a Pokémon that was likely only defending its house. But it left her without much of a choice.

A chilling grin appeared on Banette's face before her body turned pure black, disappearing completely into the night. Misty then put all of her focus onto keeping hold of the box, but her arm was starting to lose circulation and her hold was loosening. Maybe if she could manage to switch hands…

Just as she tried, the Bulbasaur gave a strong yank to her wrist, sending her sprawling into the upturned dirt. In an attempt to stay upright she widened her stance, but her foot slipped into the hole she had been digging. As her body was thrust forward by the vines, her foot twisted in the hole, wrenching an aching cry from Misty's gut. She toppled over and both the flashlight and the box fell out of her grasp, the flashlight falling dark as it hit the ground.

Both disappeared into the darkness, and Misty was left on her back, unable to reach far enough to even fumble for them. However, from her upended vantage point, she noticed a pair of dark red eyes glowing in her periphery. Next thing she knew, the Bulbasaur had become completely encased in dark. As the blackness cloaked it, the vines withdrew, leaving Misty free.

Misty grunted as she rolled herself onto her stomach, careful of her now throbbing ankle. Soon enough, the dark went away and Noir returned to Misty's side, leaving the Bulbasaur visibly passed out on the ground.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to find either object in the dark, Misty made her way towards the Bulbasaur, leaving the task of finding the missing objects to Noir. She hobbled on one foot, only allowing her injured one to tap the ground and try her best to feel around for any of the other holes she had made.

Upon reaching the Bulbasaur's side, she asked, "Are you okay?" The Bulbasaur didn't make a sound, but pulled away from her touch. She cringed, guilt filling her. "I'm sorry."

"Bay bay!"

With a victorious grin, Noir appeared at Misty's side presenting a box and a flashlight to her. "Oh, thank God," Misty said, reaching out for the objects and pocketing them. "Help me with this Bulbasaur, would you?"

Misty pushed her hands under the Bulbasaur like a forklift, giving a groan as she picked it up, trying her best to keep her weight even over her one good foot.

She had to get the Bulbasaur back into the house. It wouldn't be particularly subtle to leave an injured Pokémon in this lady's backyard. The holes were already going to cause enough of a problem. Even after they were filled in they would still look suspicious. She only hoped that the owner of the house blamed it on a wild Ratatta or maybe a Sandshrew. Were Sandshrew even native to southern Kanto? Misty had no idea.

Noir floated towards the house, going right through the back door. The door then flew open, Noir on the other side. "Thanks," Misty mouthed, not wanting to make any noise.

The back door led to a quaint kitchen filled with old pots and pans as well as many clearly handmade knickknacks, perfect for a sweet old lady. Misty placed the Bulbasaur on the tile floor and sat down, eager to get off of her weakening ankle. She felt for her PokéBelt and unclasped a 'Ball. With a flash of light, blinding in the current darkness, Staryu was revealed. Misty hushed it before it could make its nameless cry.

"Staryu," Misty whispered as quietly as she could, "use a little drizzle of Water Gun on this Bulbasaur to revive it."

A light shower sprayed from Staryu's top spine, aiming for the Bulbasaur's slightly withered bulb. The bulb absorbed the water and Misty saw the Bulbasaur's eyes begin to twitch before opening slightly. She reached for it and again the Bulbasaur recoiled from her touch and gave a growl.

"Shh, I'm sorry. Look, I have to deliver this," Misty took the box out of her pocket opened it up to reveal the ring, "to the woman who lives here along with this note. It's a favor. Can you ensure that she gets them?"

The Bulbasaur continued to eye her wearily, almost convincing Misty herself that her actions weren't honorable.

"Look, this is something that will make her happy." Misty flipped the box open and showed the small diamond, sending a glimmering reflection into Bulbasaur's hardened eyes, giving them life. "See how beautiful? And this note just explains it, okay? It says," Misty unfolded the note and read the cursive she had used to disguise her handwriting: " _This was intended to you from your late boyfriend fifty years ago. I can promise you that he was sorry that he couldn't deliver it to you himself back then, but hopefully this offers you some long-needed closure._ "

After a pregnant pause, the Bulbasaur gave a slight nod of its head. Misty smiled, amused by its obvious reluctance.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

The Bulbasaur gave a slight roll of its eyes.

Misty laughed. "Okay. Thank you." She then returned Staryu and pushed herself up to standing on one foot. But then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, you're a Grass Type…is there anything you could do about the holes in the yard?"

The Bulbasaur's eyes narrowed, as if largely grievanced by the task, but it again rolled its eyes, giving a slight nod of assent. Misty had to hold back a snigger. This Bulbasaur had quite the fresh attitude.

"Thanks."

And with that, Misty hobbled out of the house with Noir floating by her shoulder and Brock's Crobat's PokéBall in her hand, ready to be enlarged. The sky was starting to lighten; sunrise was on the horizon.

And…mission accomplished.

* * *

A yawn was the first thing that betrayed Misty's tired state the next morning. Or, rather, the same morning. When she had finally returned to the Cerulean Gym in the early morning hours, she had managed to crash on the couch for a healthy twenty minutes' rest before she was awakened by the doorbell.

She wasn't sure how it had happened, but she now found herself on the Battle platform, unsure of exactly what she was doing.

As she let out another wide yawn, giving her crusty eyes a sleepy swipe before she blinked them, trying to bring the Battle back into focus.

"Are you alright?" the challenger asked, calling across the pool.

"Yeah," Misty replied, waving him away. She wasn't surprised that he had asked, though; she was not exactly a pretty sight. Her hair was unkempt and her face showed her lack of sleep with deep purple marring the nearly translucent skin of her undereyes. Furthermore, she had to keep nearly all of her weight on her right foot; her left, while now wrapped, was still tender from the night before.

This challenger, for his part, looked in much better shape, far more presentable than most trainers that meandered their way into her Gym. He had to be about twenty years old, maybe a little older, and was dressed like a nice young man in a button-down shirt and jeans. Clearly not much of a traveler, but it wouldn't surprise her if he had been in his younger days. But the biggest thing that she noticed about him was his purple eyes. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen those before.

In the meantime she had bigger fish to fry. In the form of the Pokémon currently residing on the opposite Battle platform.

A Slowking.

Now that was a unique Pokémon. A Water Type, of course, so Misty was more than well-versed in its Move pool and Abilities, but this was the first time that she was actually seeing one in the flesh.

And already it was beating the shit out of her.

The Slowking stood lazily on the platform, perfectly idle but not sleepy like Misty was. No, it had a fire behind its eyes, showing that it would be able to counter whatever she threw at it without so much as raising a finger.

Maybe without raising a finger at all, since it was a damn Psychic Type, too.

A Psychic Type. That shouldn't have been any problem, since Misty's current Pokémon was Frillish. But she had chosen first and yet this guy had still gone with Slowking, so clearly he wasn't worried.

Frillish was okay. A little tired, but not worse for wear. Misty just needed to focus and think, because there was no reason why her Frillish should be losing to a Psychic Type.

Then, in a cruel twist of fate:

"Slowking, use Yawn."

Misty could have rolled her eyes at the irony. Why Yawn? "What, did I inspire you or something?" Misty called across to the Trainer.

He smirked at her. "Something like that."

"Frillish, dive into the water and shake it off."

Just like that, Frillish's blue form disappeared beneath the watery depths, blending seamlessly into the pool's blue tint.

Great, that would give her a second to think. Misty yawned again.

Alright, sluggish brain, maybe more than a second.

She had already tried some of her token Ghost moves, and they hadn't dealt much damage, despite their Type advantage. So she needed another angle that wasn't just brute force.

 _Think, think, think_. Psychic Types were weak to only Ghost, Bug, and Dark. Those were all things that people are commonly afraid of, Misty ascertained as vivid memories of childhood nightmares flew through her mind. So if that's where the weakness came from, then maybe that's what she needed to tap into.

But as she looked at Frillish, making him out as best she could under the water, he just didn't look all that frightening. Sure, he was a Ghost Type, but he was adorable. So squishy and cute, with its flowing, veil-like arms. What was there to be afraid of?

Maybe what she needed was a different tactic. When had she been most afraid in her life?

Then it hit her all at once.

"Frillish! Take Slowking!"

The challenger narrowed his purple eyes. "What does that mean?"

His response was water flying at him from the pool. He reeled back, coughing a little. Frillish appeared out of the water, floating in the air behind Slowking. His arms went around Slowking's eyes, carefully avoiding the spiny shell on his head and his lower tentacles enveloped the body. All at once, the two of them fell into the pool, going deeper and deeper into the watery depths.

The element of surprise gave her the advantage. Surprise fed to fear, and one could always rule under fear.

"Use Absorb!"

All that could be made out of the two of them was a faint green glow. Before long, the glow faded and a blotch of pink grew in its place, larger and larger until Slowking broke the surface of the water, floating and unmoving.

The challenger grimaced. "Nice work, Slowking. Return." As he pocketed his PokéBall and enlarged a new one, he looked at Misty. "Wow, you are ruthless."

"Only because you're a good challenge," she said. "I try to play to the skill of my opponent."

"Well, I'm flattered," he replied back as he threw his PokéBall. "Go!"

It seemed as though her second wind was hitting her and Misty could not have been more thankful. She was in the lead now, but Frillish was exhausted; that much was obvious to her. And since her opponent seemed to be pretty smart, it was probably obvious to him as well.

So she kept her eye on the Pokémon forming out of the PokéBall and after a moment, her stomach dropped. An Emolga.

Misty looked at Frillish painfully. Well, this would be quick.

And it was. A simple Thundershock was all it took and Frillish was down for the count.

Misty flinched, returning Frillish and holding the PokéBall close to her. "You did a great job, Frillish."

With the defeat, she felt herself slowing again, hesitating over which Pokémon to choose. She had no grand plans on how to beat a Pokémon that was so obviously advantaged over her. She really only had one choice.

"Dewgong, go!"

He wasn't hers. He belonged to her sisters, but they let her use him on behalf of the Gym so that he got some good battling every once in a while. But right now, she just needed an Ice Type and this was her only option. Dewgong dove into the pool with a splash, looking excited to be called out to battle.

"Emolga, Electroball!"

Wow, he didn't waste a moment.

Immediately a ball of bright electricity came barreling towards Dewgong with impeccable aim. Panic gripped Misty as fast as the ball hurtled towards the pool. She couldn't tell Dewgong to dive, as that would only send the electricity all throughout the pool, electrocuting him either way.

"Dewgong, try to climb onto the platform!"

Dewgong struggled to get its flippers onto the slick floor, only managing to heave its body up a brief moment before the ball hit, striking him back down into the pool.

"Dewgong!" Misty cried. A few shocks coursed over Dewgong's body, crackling as they trailed off into the water. "Are you okay?"

Fortunately the ball had only skirted him, not hitting full-force. He shook off the Attack and began to swim a bit to get his movement back. Misty glared at the Emolga. It was payback time.

"Dewgong, use Icy Wind."

Dewgong opened its mouth and the room suddenly was cold as a mountaintop, gales filled with tiny ice particles swirling about. Emolga moved higher and higher, trying to follow the dwindling heat, but eventually the ice managed to find its way into its fine fur, weighing down its wings.

"Emolga, you're gonna have to land," the challenger called, a shiver adding a light tremolo to his voice.

Misty wasn't immune from the cold either. She was shaking in her bones, wishing that she were at least wearing pants instead of shorts. At least it was keeping her awake, though.

Emolga glided to the opposing platform, skidding a little upon landing. As the last of the ice rained down Emolga gave itself a little static zap to dry its fur and shake off all of the ice crystals. "Alright, Emolga, let's get back in it with Double Team."

Suddenly the pool was overtaken with many an Electric sky squirrel. They were making a perfect circle on the field, shifting, blurring in and out of focus and there was no way to know which was which.

She needed an Attack that would hit a wide breadth of space. The ice had been a good idea; now to hit even stronger: "Dewgong, use Hail!"

"Agility."

The Emolga copies faded away, but it was still impossible to ascertain exactly where Emolga was; it was moving too fast to keep an eye on. And the pelting hail wasn't slowing it down either, nor was it able to cling to its wings at that speed.

Misty cursed. Dewgong couldn't get any effective hits against this Emolga. She would only be able to whittle down its health while it would likely manage to get a good amount of Electric Attacks to hit Dewgong. This was not good.

"Dewgong, Dive!" Misty commanded, at a loss for what else to do.

"Big mistake." The challenger grinned, giving his hair a little toss as the hail fell off as fractured sparkles. "Emolga, Shock Wave."

Misty's heart fell to the depths of the pool with Dewgong. God, she hated Electric Types. "Dewgong, as fast as you can, leap out of the water and try to get Emolga with your horn!"

"Not that again!" the challenger shouted, almost before Misty could even get the command out. Before Misty could even think about the falsity of that statement, he called out, "Acrobatics, now!"

And again the Emolga seemed to move at the speed of light, not only deftly avoiding Dewgong's horn, which threatened to pierce Emolga's thin, membrane-like wings, but deliver many hits itself, knocking Dewgong right back into the water.

"Dewgong!" Misty shouted as Dewgong let out a cry of pain.

"Now Shock Wave."

The water was then filled with electric energy, conducting it over the surface, the platforms, and over Dewgong as hail continued to fall, now reflecting yellow in the bright light. Misty knew it was over before the ref even lowered his flag. That had been a direct hit, and strengthened by the water. Dewgong hadn't stood a chance.

"Dewgong, return," she said, apologizing to the poor creature in her mind. He had put up a good fight, but she'd been off her game. Exhaustion was hitting her again full force now along with a salty wave of defeat. Apparently her mind had not been quick enough to handle an Emolga like that.

Still, she had to be the bigger person.

"Hey, great job, Benji," she said as she approached him. "That was one of the best Battles I've had in a long time."

"Me too," Benji said with a cheery grin as his Emolga flew and landed on his head, tousling his hair, letting it fall over his purple eyes.

"You might even be as good as your mother."

"My mother?" Misty was taken aback. This man had known her mother?

"Yeah, I challenged her when I was ten." He laughed. "I think I remember you. You must have been only four or five at the time, but you watched the whole Battle. Your mother asked me to challenge the Gym again after more training, so here I am."

"Wow," she blew out. It was all coming back to her. "After ten years? That's a lot more training, I would say."

"Yeah, well," he looked up at his Emolga, "we had to wait until the Gym was worthy of a rematch. And we've heard good things about you, so it seemed to be time."

Misty blushed. "Well, I hope that I met your expectations…despite the loss."

"It was everything I'd hoped for," he assured. "I'm sure you would have won had you not tried the exact same technique that Fleur did with her Seel against Emolga, here. I was prepared for that one this time."

"Wow, really?" she asked. "Exactly the same technique?"

"Sure was."

A smile grew on her face. She was turning out to be like her mother without even trying. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a shiny blue pin. "Here's your well-deserved Cascade Badge."

"Thanks," he said, pinning it to his coat. "I've been waiting for this one for a long time."

Misty nodded. "Apparently."

"Come on, Emolga."

Benji put his arm out and Emolga scurried off his head and down his arm, taking flight, leading the way out of the Gym with Benji behind. Misty looked at them with fondness, her smiling not having yet fallen.

As much as she hated not winning, never had a loss been so sweet.

* * *

Truth be told, after the Battle, all Misty wanted to do was sleep. But she just couldn't bring herself to. This was a normal day, after all, and she needed to keep working. She compromised by telling herself that she would just turn in earlier and maybe sleep in a little the next morning. So after a quick trip to the Pokémon Center, she went off to her next task of the day.

Training.

Generally, Misty trained at the Gym, utilizing the various pools and aquariums for her Water Pokémon and occasionally going to the ocean north-east of Cerulean. But about once a week, she liked to bring out the big guns.

That was how she found herself now in the Cerulean Cave, climbing her way up a familiar path to a short, rocky plateau above the water early in the cave. This was a harder workout for her team, so she could spend a little less time out there, adding up to more sleep later. "Alright, guys, come on out!" she called with a huff as she tossed her PokéBalls into the air. Out came Staryu and her other Pokémon, save for Frillish, whom she had left in the Pokémon Center.

Instead, there was one other Pokémon. Misty smirked. "Show 'em what you've got, Noir."

It was only a moment after Noir appeared out of the darkness of the cave that a huge ball of dark energy blasted from her marionette hands straight towards water. Misty's Gyarados raised its tail into the air, glowing a chilled blue before smacking the shadow out of the air, giving a mighty splash to the water below.

Misty smiled. "Great job, Gyarados." Then she looked at Noir. "But what about this?"

Noir shot through the air, fist first like a spectral shadow of Superman towards Staryu. Misty heard flapping and looked up at one of the many Golbat in the cave.

"Watch out for the Golbat, guys!"

Misty trained in the cave for how secluded it was—she couldn't have people seeing her training with Noir, after all—but what the cave lacked in people, it made up for in very strong wild Pokémon. Most were deeper in the cave and those that weren't kept away from her. Most of the time.

But as Noir sent a Sucker Punch into Staryu's Rapid Spin, this Golbat was flapping wildly in their direction.

Scratch that. In _her_ direction.

Misty put her arms up to her face and bent her knees, trying to find her best stance on the uneven flooring. "Noir, can you get back here and help me?"

In an instant, Noir flashed beside her and sent the Golbat her best menacing grin. It, however, only bared its fangs before breaking into a strange cackle. It fell back, and dropped a piece of paper that swayed as it fell towards the damp floor.

Misty reached for it, clapping what ended up being an unsealed envelope between her hands. When she looked back up, the Golbat was nowhere to be seen. If it was still around, that maniac Golbat blended perfectly with the rest in the colony hanging from the stalactites.

Except that that Golbat must have had a Trainer.

"Alright, who's there?" Misty called out, her voice echoing roughly off of the stone walls.

Not a single sound, save for the dripping of water returned to her.

Furrowing her brow, Misty flipped open the envelope. Inside was a piece of lined paper, folded many times until it was tiny, almost lost in the small envelope. Misty pinched it out and unfolded it, revealing black scrawl off-center from the lines in an ominous message:

 _I know what you are._

A Spinarak epitomized her thoughts as it sent an creepy feeling creeping up her spine and shivers running down it. Few things triggered that feeling, and it made her want to get out of the suddenly dank, eerie cave as soon as possible.

But not if this person was still here.

"Okay, guys," Misty said to her Pokémon, clapping her hands together, "go disperse and see if you can find any person who might have delivered this note."

As the Pokémon gave their calls of affirmation and took off throughout the cave, Misty looked at the note again, reading it over and over. _I know what you are_. It wasn't a threat, just a statement.

Just the same, she didn't like it.

Had someone seen her training in here? It was possible, theoretically anyone could be in the cave and catch her with Noir. Even still, though, there was no reason for them to know anything other than the fact that she had a Banette. That didn't qualify as something that she _was_.

Regardless, she was always careful. She would have Noir scope out that section of the cave before they would get started and all the Pokémon were on high alert anyway—that was what they were training for. Furthermore, the inhabiting Pokémon would scatter and be disrupted as they were whenever she came in to train. That would give away the entry of a new human.

It just didn't add up. She'd been careful her whole life. No one could have found her out. It had to be a bluff.

But unless that Golbat was truly the jokester that it appeared to be, and literate, but then that didn't seem likely either.

"What else could _I know what you are_ mean?"

Noir sort of shrugged, looking as hopeless as Misty felt.

Maybe it was a mistake? Maybe this was just some random note and it wasn't intended to her? Maybe this Golbat had just found it and had no idea what it said. Who was to say this Golbat even had a Trainer?

Misty looked at the note again. It sure didn't _seem_ like a mistake.

"Alright," Misty said slowly, "if this is what we assume that this is, then what do we do?"

Noir put on her most mastered sinister grin and widened her eyes. "Nette banette."

Move out. Misty rolled her eyes. That was always the solution with her. Move out. Well, it wasn't so easy for a Gym Leader to just up and pack her things and leave the Gym to three moderately capable models. "Now's not the time for jokes."

Noir just shook her head. Not a joke. Typical.

Misty sighed. "Let's just wait for the Pokémon to get back and hope that they find someone."

* * *

The walk back to the Cerulean Gym was unsettling. There had been no one to be found in the Cerulean Cave and now every person that Misty passed by seemed suspect. People generally seemed to act like they knew her better than she knew them, as she was a town celebrity of sorts, but never had it seemed in any way malicious before.

But now she just couldn't wait to get home.

When she finally made her way back, she closed the door behind her, locking it carefully.

"Hiya, Misty! How was training?" Daisy asked as Misty made a beeline for the kitchen, hoping some cold water would calm her nerves. All three sisters were in the kitchen, an odd occurrence, but convenient for Misty if she wanted to talk to them about that day's events.

"Well…" Misty looked subtly at Noir—now cloaked in her ghostly glow—who shook her head vehemently.

Was it smart to tell them? No, probably not. But that weight needed to get off her chest before she started acting truly paranoid.

"I got this strange note today," she finally admitted, taking the letter and presenting it to them. "What do you think this means?"

The girls read over it, turning to her with perplexed faces. Daisy turned to her. "Well…do you have a secret?"

Violet and Lily leaned in closer, looks of interest obvious on their faces.

"No," Misty immediately said. "At least, I don't think so," she amended to make it more believable.

"Maybe they meant," Lily had to pause as giggles were threatening to erupt out of her, "that they know that you're a loser. Since you lost today and all."

The three sisters all burst into hysterics. "Oh, Lil, you're so bad," Violet said to her, giving Lily a playful swat.

"I know, but I just had to!"

Misty's face turned red. Suddenly, the vigor she had been feeling after the match was completely stomped out like a dwindling fire under a heavy, heavy boot. She felt tired and beaten in a completely different way from earlier that morning. "I don't think that's what it meant."

"Aw, have a sense of humor," Daisy said, putting a hand on Misty's shoulder as she wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. "She was only kidding."

"Well, sort of," Violet added. "Like, you did lose today's match, after all."

That hadn't seemed like such a bad thing an hour ago. But now, as her high spirits were shattered at her feet, she couldn't help but feel like a loser. Was being a Gym Leader just a dead end of good days and bad days? And were those fueled by the matches or her sisters' reviews? Reviews that they stamped upon her as they sat back, incessantly casting their shadows over her. Suddenly, she could see what the next twenty years of her life would be like and, while that had once been her aspiration, now it felt like her prison.

Misty snatched the note back from Daisy, instantly wishing that she had listened to Noir. Noir, whom she felt hovering over to her other shoulder. Misty turned to her, daring to look at Noir for longer than she had while in the sight of her sisters in years, seeing the precise expression that she had expected in those red eyes. "Well, maybe I'll just leave, then."

The words simply tumbled out before she even had the chance to think about censoring them. She had intended the words as a threat, with regret to falling on the heels of them, but instead she felt rather empowered by the truth in them. She could absolutely move out and end everything right there. And that would also nip the mysterious note in the bud. Probably.

That knowledge caused Misty to stand a little straighter and cock her chin out at her sisters, who were now looking at her as though she had two heads, almost daring them to deny her this one right that she had.

"Wait, really?" Daisy asked after Misty didn't back down.

"Yeah." She took a wider stance. "Yes, I really mean it."

"So, like, you want us to be the Gym Leaders again?" Lily asked, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

"Yes. I think it might be good for you guys." She took Dewgong's 'Ball off of her 'Belt and placed it in Daisy's hand. "You know what to do."

And she walked away. Just like that.

* * *

Her packing was getting the brunt of it. As Misty was stuffing items into her bag, they each got their own personalized little punch…and then another one for good measure.

At least it was helping everything fit.

Each punch represented every time she had been angry, or cried, or wished that her sisters would go away and never come back. They fueled the anger, but this time it didn't all die in a wish that couldn't come true. Rather it fueled the fire of the ambition of a real solution. A solution that had been there all along, dangling in front of her, but that she had never taken because of her responsibilities.

Well, screw responsibilities. Let her sisters have a taste of that for a change. Yes, they'd stepped up when their mom had died. Temporarily. But as Misty had grown older, it seemed to completely vanish from their personalities. She'd quickly become the only adult in the house and had been since she was twelve, to be exact.

She was keeping her bag light, so it was only a few minutes before she was tightening it and strapping it to her back. With Noir beside her and her other Pokémon strapped to her 'Belt, she began walking with purpose towards the door when she was given pause by something materializing in front of her.

"Please, don't, Misty."

Misty sighed. She had seen this coming. "Mom, I know what you're going to say."

Standing in front of her was Fleur Waterflower, ethereal as always, but now with the effervescent glow around her to match. Still wearing a sundress that she had worn all the time when she'd been healthy. And her hair was long, red and flowing like it had been before.

"Well, I'm going to say it anyway," Fleur said. "Your sisters love you. You know they do; they just have a strange way of showing it. They have a different relationship with you than they have with each other."

"Yeah, a worse one," Misty muttered. Noir let out an utterance of agreement.

"Not worse, just different," Fleur corrected.

"Okay, mom, if that's what you think, then tell me this," Misty countered. "Do you think that you and I have a better relationship than you have with them, or is it just different?"

"Well, that's not really fair, sweetheart, because they can't see me or talk to me."

"So, are you saying that our relationship is better because we can see each other and converse?" Misty smirked, knowing that she had her mother on this one.

"Well…yes."

Ah, sweet satisfaction. Misty shared a smug look with Noir as though they were conspirers against her mother's wicked plans of sibling harmony. She knew that all her mother wanted was for the four of them to get along well like siblings are supposed to as they age, but it just wasn't happening. Not enough for Misty's taste, anyway. They were just too different.

"But that doesn't mean that it's not worth it to foster a healthy relationship with them." She gave Misty a particularly meaningful look. "While you have the chance."

 _While you have the chance._ Man, that was a low blow. Misty cringed at the insinuation her mother had weighted those words with. Especially coming from her.

"Look, I'm not even actually moving out. I'm just going on a journey. I never got the chance to do that," Misty stated, trying to ignore the chill of the words. "It's not like I'm cutting them out of my life."

"But doesn't the fact that I'm even here tell you that you should be thinking this through a little more?" Fleur offered.

Misty sighed. That was quite possibly true. Her mom had been around a lot shortly after she'd died. Since then, her visits had become sparser. She only seemed to appear when Misty really needed her help. Neither of them were completely sure why. But it stood to reason that if Fleur was here now, then maybe Misty needed her help.

"Maybe you're here just because I was thinking about you," Misty offered.

Fleur reached out and touched Misty's cheek. "You've always been my stubborn baby, Misty."

Misty rolled her eyes before giving a hopeful smile. "So you understand my leaving?"

Fleur sighed. "I understand. It just makes me a little sad. I like to watch the four of you all here together."

"You'll still get to."

There was silence for a moment as Fleur pulled her hand away. Then she said, "I don't know. I'm seeing you less often. I'm not sure how much longer we have."

That surprised Misty. "You mean you think you'll be going away for good?"

"It's always been a possibility, Misty. Neither of us really know how this works."

Assisting ghosts in moving on to the next world—or whatever came "after"—had been Misty's job outside of her real job since she'd been a child. And she was pretty good at it. She'd given up on trying to figure out why her mother couldn't seem to move on years ago. She'd practically forgotten it was even an option.

"You still pop in every few months, mom. I'm sure we still have time."

Fleur smiled again. "Always my stubborn baby."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes again, Misty reached out and hugged her mom. "Done with the guilt trip yet?"

Fleur squeezed her tightly, the way she had when Misty was little and she could pick her up and swing her around. "I'll see you soon."

"See ya soon."

Fleur pulled away and waved to Noir, who had silently watched the whole exchange. "Bye, Noir."

"Bay."

As Fleur faded from the very spot whence she stood, Misty tried to swallow down the little lump of sadness that entered her throat every time her mother disappeared in front of her. She knew that she was lucky, though. Her sisters had just had to deal with their mother's death like anyone else would. The crushing realization that she was really never coming back had taken them all months to recover from.

Misty had been young when Fleur had died, so perhaps it hadn't affected her quite as much as it did her sisters. She hadn't understood it quite as well. Still, she had followed in her sisters' strides and let them explain everything to her.

Therefore, it had surprised a young Misty enormously to see her mother in the flesh again. Of course, it wasn't actually in the flesh because, while Misty could touch her, her body glowed and passed through walls. Not exactly the common qualities of a temporal being, but something Misty had gotten increasingly used to seeing.

These were the secret people, as she had come to think of them when she was younger. The people that she couldn't recognize, that she saw and wouldn't acknowledge to other people. Others never knew what she was talking about and they would think that she was crazy. So she had learned quickly to keep these people to herself.

Of course, before they had always been strangers. Seeing her mother as one of these glowing secret people was wholly unexpected.

But she was so thankful for it. Together they'd figured out that these people were ghosts, they had died and she had the special ability that most people didn't have to see them. She answered the questions that Misty had been dying to know.

When Misty had asked why she could see them and no one else could, that's when Fleur's answers fell short. She didn't know and probably never would. Misty had accepted that. All that mattered was that that was the way things were and she would have to learn to deal with it.

"It" meaning pesky ghosts that realized that she could actually see them and made her do their bidding for them.

Getting to see her dead mom was nice. Constantly having to run errands for the dead of Cerulean City, however, was not so nice.

Still, the good outweighed the bad, even if it meant that Misty would have to watch her mother leave, potentially for the last time, over and over again, as she was now.

Misty took Noir's hand and squeezed.

"Time to go, Noir," Misty said, a light quaver on her vocal chords.

Noir grinned hugely and Misty couldn't help but roll her eyes as she slid the other strap from her bag onto her shoulder and make her second break for the door, not looking back.

Time to move on.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you C'sMelody for always pointing out the things I'm too dumb to even consider. Brock's Crobat now has a backstory for this AU.

Hopefully you guys liked this one. I actually really love the first half of this one. The second half is only alright.


	8. Fits and Starts

.

 **Fits and Starts**

 _"The muses are ghosts, and sometimes they come uninvited."_

–Stephen King, _Bag of Bones_

* * *

It was as Misty was finally leaving that she realized that she had never truly seen Cerulean before.

Sure, Misty had left Cerulean on occasion before. She'd had to leave for Gym Leaders conferences, every year for the League, and, more frequently, were occasions like this morning, during which she had to go out of her way to do a favor for a wandering spirit.

She took a hand off her bike and yawned at the thought.

When she left she always went west, or occasionally south, because those were the directions of anything else in Kanto. So west was the direction she went today. Past her common-trod ground of Cerulean Cave and straight out of town.

And she was seeing things she had never bothered to look at before.

For once, she was a sightseer; a tourist rather than a native. And she was shocked to see that there was absolutely nothing special about Cerulean at all.

It was on the water, but not the beautiful port city that Vermillion was. It had both adorable mom and pop shops like Pallet and malls like Celadon, but it wasn't a quaint town or a metropolis. It even had its own miniature Victory Road in the Cave; it was like a miniaturized version of Kanto in a city. It was such a mix of everything that nothing really stood out.

But maybe that was why she had never felt the urge to leave before. But it was definitely why she felt a burning on her heels to get out now.

Kind of. Every other minute or so.

Because while she needed to leave, every fiber of her being was pulling at her like tiny grappling hooks to turn back. A perfect situation of being damned if you do and damned if you don't.

The adrenaline from the life changing decision and thusly carrying it out had begun to peter off only a few tender minutes into her journey. She had hopped on her bike and set off past the most familiar part of town and was now entering the outskirts. The city was a little sketchier and the thin forest at the western edge of Cerulean was not far off. These facts should have added up to increase the fervor to leave and get on with this journey, anticipation to get to that forest and experience what being a traveler really was.

But each turn of the pedals now was becoming defiant with regret. It was getting harder and harder to keep moving when her exhaustion was begging her to go home and return to bed—save her big decisions for another day.

At this point, Misty estimated that she had been awake for a day and a half; awake for over 30 hours. Wasn't that fact enough that she should turn back, maybe get a good night's sleep before she made a life altering decision?

These thoughts were following her, chasing her mind from both sides until they fired off in parallel and Misty wasn't sure which of these antagonizing ideas she should take to be her own in this moment.

Her pedaling kept faltering ever time the urge to go back was stronger. Noir was giving Misty questioning looks whenever it happened and all Misty could do was blush at her contrariety. After all, she was biking on a lazy concrete path, only the occasional car coming into sight. There was no reasonable purpose for her erratic pedaling. Unless one took a deeper look into her mind:

Should she keep going? Set up camp the second they found a secure spot in the woods and sleep blissfully through the day and night before continuing on the journey of a lifetime?

Should she turn back? Sleep in her own bed and laugh at this lapse in judgment the next day when she was creaming some youngster in a match?

Should she stay?

Should she go?

Should she stay?

Should she—

"Aaah!"

Misty let out a shrill screech as her hand twitched with indecision, sending the front of her bike wobbling right into a loose pebble, felled from the curbstone. She tumbled to the ground as her bike fell the other way in the middle of the road. She felt the sharp sting of a scrape on both her knee and her elbow, but nothing major. Still, she winced as she righted herself, still being careful of her prior injured ankle, and brushed the sandy pieces of asphalt from her wounds.

She huffed at her clumsiness and moved to drag her bike over to the curb, hoping she hadn't dented the front wheel. After a cursory inspection—directly avoiding Noir's gaze all the while—the bike appeared to be fine. Contented, Misty reached to her 'Belt and opened a PokéBall.

"Staryu, go!"

Staryu appeared in the grass on the side of the road, next to Misty.

"Staryu, could you do me a favor and clean these scrapes?" Misty exposed her elbow and her knee, sucking her breath through her teeth when Staryu released a gentle spray on them. "Thanks."

She returned Staryu and sat on the curb, careful to leave her right leg outstretched. If she looked up, she could see the tops of the trees in the forest lining the last few buildings of Cerulean City on the skyline. And if she looked down, she could see the road that was nearly a clean shot straight back to the Gym.

And if she looked straight ahead, she would see Noir frowning right in front of her face.

She put her face in her hands and let out a feral groan. "Ugh! Why is this so hard? Why couldn't I have just done this when I was ten and had no responsibilities and nothing to hold me back?"

Noir shrugged, trying her best to look sympathetic. "Bay bay nette banette bay…"

"What? If I don't go now, then what?"

An argument was fiery on the tip of her tongue, but it was snuffed out as Noir's incomplete thought was completed a million ways in Misty's mind.

Suddenly, her sleep-desiderate mind was active again, and her body followed suit, hopping back up on her bike and pedaling as fast as she could.

If she didn't leave now, Noir—her best friend—would be disappointed.

If she didn't leave now, her sisters would laugh at her sorry retreat home. And it wouldn't be from a place of unkindness, so much as just being pleased that they were right.

If she didn't leave now, there would be a bunch of Water Pokémon she would never get to see, much less catch.

If she didn't leave now, she would never have the experience of traveling as a youth.

As she pedaled faster than she ever had before, Noir flew through the air to catch up. "Nette banette?" she asked.

Misty laughed, crazed mirth fresh to her spirit. "Why?" she repeated. "It's simple. If I don't leave now…then I probably never will."

And that thought was enough to send her trailblazing out of Cerulean as fast as her bike would let her.

* * *

Spending the night in the woods wasn't as bad as Misty had anticipated. This was a small forest, not thriving on any Bug Type, or much of any Pokémon, really. Just a few Spearow here and there roosting in the trees. Besides, with Noir on watch—as she didn't need any sleep—there was nary a concern.

True to her word, she slept all day and night, recuperating from the day's Battles and fights and travels…

Wow, it had been a long day.

But she woke up the next day—at a reasonable hour—refreshed from it all and, thankfully, lacking any regrets. So, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as a Sentret, she rolled her sleeping bag and set off on her way.

And then she realized that she hadn't planned that far.

What was her way?

Misty looked to Noir, who shrugged as if to say, "I don't know."

At a loss, Misty opened her mouth, and some wisp of a sound creaked out. "Uh, why don't we just head to Pewter City? Maybe visit Brock? That should be fun."

Noir nodded, actually seeming somewhat enthused.

That always confused Misty. When she was younger, she had figured that Noir didn't like anyone except for her, since she had no penchant for kindness towards her sisters, and Misty honestly didn't ever see much of anyone else. But that didn't appear to be true, because Noir carried no dislike for Brock, or anyone else that Misty came in contact with. No dislike beyond playful jesting and sniggering, at least.

So after Misty ate a quick breakfast, she and Noir hit the road again, leaving Cerulean even further in their dust.

The trek from Cerulean to Pewter wasn't a long or challenging one if you didn't go through Mt. Moon. Sure, the tunnels were a neat little shortcut, but an over-mountain trail had been made decades ago during the war with Johto so that people and supplies could travel to Kanto's western border. What was a necessity for the time was just convenient now, as it's what travelers who weren't aching to train through Mt. Moon usually took. And since Misty's Pokémon had all gotten a good workout the day before, she figured saving the spelunking for another day wouldn't be a crime.

And it'd be better for her bike.

So over the mountain and through the woods to Brock's house Misty went. It was the lightest part of the season for the League; not too many Trainers were out and about. It was early spring, so the new ten-year-olds hadn't yet received their first Pokémon and the League was months away, so people weren't yet clamoring for their last badges. That was part of the reason why Misty had felt leaving the Gym to her sisters right now wouldn't be the end of the world. There wouldn't be any full Gym days for weeks.

The road was peaceful. Misty had learned that she was a person who appreciated her alone time. That was probably why she liked things like fishing so much and why she didn't even mind the menial daily tasks around the Gym. Time by herself—or alone with Noir, which was much the same—was precious.

And with Misty's special ability, even just passersby threatened her peace because she always had to be on edge when people were watching. But this was different. With Noir floating beside her in plain sight and no one around to recognize her, life was easy.

That's why she was in no real rush to drop in on Brock. She was riding at a very leisurely pace but even still she approximated she would make it to Pewter by dinnertime, even with brief breaks.

Hmm…dinner…

"Noir," Misty pondered, "do you think that we should let Brock know that we're dropping in?"

Noir put a finger to the corner of her mouth, looking to the sky with a thoughtful frown. "Bay."

"Yeah, we probably should."

Misty's face suddenly split into a shit-eating grin and took a hand off of her bike to slap Noir on the back. "Well, enjoy yourself!"

"Bay?"

"Well, I don't have any way to contact him, and we're in the middle of nowhere, so that leaves only one option."

Noir glared, her eyes flashing red for a moment as she faded into the landscape, though not before making a sinister gesture implying that she was watching Misty.

"Yeah, yeah." Misty waved it off casually, knowing that Noir's threats were always empty. To her at least.

Still feeling a little mischievous, Misty couldn't help but snigger at what she was sure would happen upon Noir's entry to the Gym. Right about now, Misty suspected that Noir was there, keeping out of sight and scouting for Brock, ensuring that he was alone. No nosy siblings.

Brock was the only person in the whole world that knew about Noir, besides Misty, of course, and Misty didn't need the Slate siblings finding out. Actually, she didn't want anyone else in the world to find out, if she could help it.

She wouldn't say that this was the easy way out, but it was certainly simpler than having to explain why a Water specialist was so close with a Ghost Type.

By now Misty was sure that Noir had managed to find Brock alone, or if he hadn't been, she had found a way to ensure that he would be the only one able to see her. And then she would find some way to surprise him. Mirrors, Misty knew, were Noir's favorite, but they're not always around. So her best guess was that Noir simply appeared right in front of him. Always a solid choice.

A little known fact about Brock was that while he managed to have a manly enough scream, it was usually followed by a collapse into the fetal position and effeminate cries of "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

Misty laughed. It was a shame she wouldn't get to see it this time, but she knew that Noir would recount it brilliantly.

That experience, ghost-related trauma aside, would alert Brock of Misty's arrival. Sure, Brock didn't understand a lick of Banette-speech, but who else did he know that had a Banette? There weren't very many Ghost Trainers in the Kanto region, after all. Ghosts didn't have the best reputation in Kanto.

Just then, Misty heard a familiar stifled laughter and Noir appeared beside her, floating along like usual, but holding her stomach and doubled over in laughter. Misty couldn't contain herself. "It went well?"

The prodding only made Noir laugh harder, and Misty had to join in.

"God, I hate messing with Brock, but I love it too," Misty said, wiping a tear away. "We'll just make it up to him once we get there."

* * *

It became clear very quickly how Misty was going to make it up to Brock.

Babysitting.

Misty thanked her lucky stars that she had locked up her bike beside the Gym before she had rung the doorbell, because not two moments later, that heavy, stone door slid open and children bombarded her. Had her bike not been away, it surely would have had a Misty-shaped dent in it.

"Oh, goodness!" was the exclamation squeezed out of her by many tiny hands pulling her tight. "Hi, guys." She wrestled with trying to get the kids off of her and she could see Noir, who was now invisible to them, laughing at her. "Brock!"

Brock appeared a leisurely amount of time later, a rag in hand and an easy, breezy smile on his face. "Oh, Misty, so nice to see you. And so nice of you to offer to take the kids to the park while I make dinner. Really, I can't thank you enough."

And he shut the door in her face.

She would have been peeved, but really…

She deserved that.

Luckily none of the kids were young enough to be qualified as toddlers anymore, so she managed to coax all of them off her various limbs easily enough, especially when promises of the park were brought back up. It was only a short walk to the nearby playground—which apparently wasn't good enough—so instead Misty lead the kids to the farther away park like a mama Swanna leading her Ducklett.

It wasn't a bother, though, because it actually brought back fond memories of her childhood. Misty's mom and Brock's parents had known each other ever since they'd become Gym Leaders—long before Misty had been born. That was how she had met Brock. Sure, she was closer in age to Forrest, but she had been mature for her age in that introverted, introspective way of hers and had gotten along better with Brock. And his friendship had been invaluable when her mother had died.

The kids all but deserted her save for the twins, Billy and Tilly. They were the youngest and insisted on dragging her to the swings to push them. They nearly pulled her arms out of their sockets in the process. Still, she laughed all the way, taking joy in playing part in the activities of kids that she had never really partaken in.

Fortunately, it didn't take too long to tire the kids out. The twins had gotten sick of the swings and insisted on moving on to other activities. Misty probably would have keeled over if it had only been her to entertain all of them, but she had released all of her Pokémon, sans Noir…and Gyarados. She was grateful that she hadn't taken her chances with Mt. Moon, otherwise they would have been pooped and Misty would have been a goner too.

But the promise of dinner was enough to encourage the kids to trail back to the Gym. And it was more than enough for Misty. The idea of a Brock-homemade dinner sounded heavenly in comparison to the takeout and frozen meals that she frequented at home.

Nice dinner, a guest bedroom to herself with a nice bed…Yeah, Misty could get used to life on the road.

It was after she had slipped into her pajamas and under the covers that Brock managed to make his escape from the clan and poked his head through her door. "Sorry, were you going to sleep?"

"No, no," Misty said, sitting herself up. "What's up?"

Brock took it as an invitation and came up, seating himself on her bed as she scooted over to make room for him. "We haven't gotten a second to talk."

"I know," Misty said. "That family of yours is something else."

"Yeah," Brock agreed, fondness in his eyes. "So, uh, are you gonna tell me why you're here?"

Misty looked down, her bangs falling over her eyes. Brock lay down on the bed so he could look up at her face and she laughed. No escape. "Would it be childish if I told you that I ran away?"

Brock gasped. "You didn't."

Misty nodded, feeling almost embarrassed about the situation. "I did."

"Tell me this was all Noir's idea."

Her eyes couldn't help but roll in their sockets. "Well, I can't say that her role in this wasn't _obvious_. But I went of my own will and volition."

"And pigheadedness and impulsiveness—"

"Hey!" Misty held a hand up. "I'm rarely impulsive. Stubborn yes, but I wouldn't say impulsive."

"The Tentacruel plush."

Misty hung her head in shame. "Well played," she conceded in a reluctant mumble. As her mind shifted, desperate to change the subject from her richest flaws, she remembered something. "Oh, I wanted to show this to you."

Misty slipped out of bed and grabbed her denim shorts, feeling around in the pocket for the scrap of paper. She unfolded it and dropped it on his lap.

"What's this?"

All Misty could do was shrug. "I received it ominously in the cave yesterday."

"Received it ominously?" Brock echoed.

"Via Golbat delivery."

"Wild?"

"Probably not."

"Hmm." Brock put his thumb and forefinger to his chin, tapping with thought. "You don't think that this person really knows that you can see ghosts, do you?"

"I have no idea, Brock," Misty said, the exasperation that had been building with this note coming out fully in her voice. "What else could it mean?"

Brock was silent for a moment, his brows furrowed deep in his forehead. Then, pensively, he began, "Have you considered that maybe you're not the only person with this…ability?"

Misty was taken aback. "How do you mean?"

"Well," Brock started, "I can only assume that if someone does in fact know, they must be _in_ the know. You know?"

"Uh, not really."

Brock sighed. "I mean, if someone else could see and communicate with the dead, they'd probably catch on real quick to someone else doing it."

"But I've never met any—"

"I know," Brock cut her off, folding the note back up and handing it to Misty. "But I'm just saying that it's a possibility."

Misty shoved the note back in her shorts and half-heartedly tossed them back in the vague direction of her bag. "I guess. I'll keep it in mind."

"Good enough for me," Brock said easily. "So this is part of the reason why you left?"

"Yep." Misty returned to the bed with a heavy plop. "No need to be worrying about stalkers in Cerulean."

"Well, I think this is good for you," Brock announced.

Misty's head shot up. "Really?"

"Absolutely," he affirmed. "Risk of stalkers aside, it's time that you stop trying to shine in your sisters' shadows. It's time that we see you in full. And, hey, you can stay here as long as you need. I only have one Battle lined up for tomorrow and I don't really expect any more, so I'll be at your beck and call."

"That's great, Brock, thanks. Just for tomorrow, and then I'll be out of your gravity-defying hair."

"Hey!" Brock sent a self-conscious hand through his hair. "You're one to talk."

"Ah," Misty said, holding her index finger up. "But I am a girl. And girls have magical powers to make them look good."

Brock's eyes widened. "I knew it."

"Mm, secrets revealed," Misty said lacklusterly as she flopped back down in bed under the covers, all but kicking Brock off. "Goodnight."

* * *

Misty woke up that morning looking forward to the Battle that Brock had mentioned so briefly in passing. She didn't know at what time it was so she had to get up pretty early to ensure that she would be dressed and ready for it. Plus, she knew it would be important to get her body back on a decent schedule after the absurdity that she had put it through the past few days.

Noir was nowhere to be found, as did happen periodically. Misty assumed that she wanted to go off and do her own thing while they had a little downtime; before they were on the road for real and constantly on the move. But Misty didn't mind. It would be nice to have time with just her and Brock.

And the siblings and the challenger and the presumed companions of said challenger. Good bonding time. But Misty was excited for the Battle nevertheless

It was true that Misty was a battler at heart, but there was almost something better about being able to watch a Battle that she was not participating in. That occasion came around once a year at the League, but otherwise for this kind of entertainment she had to turn to the TV. And watching a Battle on TV just wasn't the same at all. You couldn't feel the temperature in the room drop upon an Ice Attack being used and you couldn't hear the hiss of steam still sizzling away moments after a Fire and Water Attack collide.

Though she could do without the humidity of that particular pairing.

But this Battle was turning out to be a fine one. It was Brock's Onix pitted against a Rhyhorn, so neither had an advantage. They were only chipping away at each other, using Ground Attacks to their best abilities, but it really seemed to Misty that Brock's Onix had the advantage merely because it was twice as fast as that Rhyhorn.

Even on the sidelines, she could feel her competitive edge showing. She was trying to predict the moves before they happened, strategizing along with both Trainers. She was happy that Brock was making a lot of the same decisions that she would have and he was doing well. Which thereby meant that she was doing well.

"Onix, Dig!"

Both Onix and Rhyhorn had been going back and forth with that move, a common one in this Gym, Misty presumed. The poor man's Earthquake, as she saw it, but it really did have its benefits in both offensive and defensive strategy. And it didn't destroy the field quite as abruptly as Earthquake did, so she saw why at least Brock was using it.

They had been playing with how long either of the Pokémon stayed burrowed, and when it happened to be for a long time, sometimes the other would follow and the match would turn into an underground match, much like underwater matches at her own Gym when the challenger had a Water Type. But here they couldn't see at all, so the tensions were much higher.

Onix wasn't underground for long this time, though. Almost immediately, he shot straight up, just so that he could Tackle Rhyhorn from above when he was expecting a barrage from below. A good strategy, Misty complimented in her head, hearing it echoed out loud by the Slate siblings she had flanked on either side of her.

However, she quickly found herself distracted. When Onix shot up, she could have sworn that she saw a flicker of a figure through the dust, way up in the rafters of the Gym.

She shook her head. Must have been seeing things. It was a very dusty field after all.

She clapped her hands and rooted for this kid, happy that he seemed to have a couple of friends of his own on the other side of the stadium so that the cheering for Brock didn't get him down. Nothing against Brock's skill, but she was coming to hypothesize that some matches ended in his favor just because lone Trainers were distracted and disheartened by the cheers and jeers of his family. Forrest was even the referee—there had to be something unfair about that.

Rhyhorn began to charge towards Onix, having difficulty picking up speed because of having to avoid all the holes on the field. Onix reared back, balancing only on a few rocks on its tail, something that would be very hard to do with all its weight. It was akin to a ballerina dancing on pointe.

"Wow, it's really well-trained," Misty murmured under her breath.

"Sure is!" Cindy, one of Brock's sisters piped up.

Misty nodded absently, straining her neck up to see Onix and again she saw something flickering in the rafters, even higher this time—beyond Onix's head, which was almost brushing the ceiling. If she squinted, it actually looked like two somethings…with a subtle glow to them that she almost couldn't perceive from that far away.

Nonetheless, it was enough for her to whip her face back to the ground level of the Battle like she had been stung, and just in time. Using its height, Onix lunged and managed to catch Rhyhorn in a Bind from behind.

Now, Misty knew that usually a Normal Type Attack like that wouldn't do much against a Rhyhorn, but she could see the pain in its eyes, and even Onix's from grating the rock against rock of their skin. It was simple erosion, just like Water, Grass, or Ground against a Rock Type. Besides, the Battle had been going on a while so every little Attack was beginning to add up.

"Onix, use Smack Down."

The Rhyhorn was unfurled from Onix's tail rapidly and it was forced into the ground, creating a crater. Forrest ran to that side of the field and waited for the dust to settle, as they all did, Misty with bated breath. This should be…

"Rhyhorn is unable to battle. The Gym Leader, Brock, is the victor!" Forrest announced, unable to keep a biased smile off of his face.

Misty stood up, dragged by Tommy and Yolanda, who were almost as big as her, to do so, and began clapping and cheering. It warmed her heart to see this. Brock was doing so well for himself.

As she watched Brock walk over to the fallen Rhyhorn, Misty allowed herself a momentary glance back towards the ceiling. The figures were still there. A boy, it looked like, though she had no idea the age. And the other figure was pretty small, so definitely a Pokémon of some sort. That was strange. Misty never had seen a human ghost and a Ghost Pokémon together.

Near as she could tell, human ghosts didn't hold any more skill with Ghost Pokémon than the living did. And generally they had different concerns than finding which earthly—well, relatively—Pokémon they could befriend. So this was curious.

But not curious enough that she wanted to involve herself in it, if she could all avoid it, so she averted her eyes before the boy looked away from the battlefield.

At this point, Brock was ushering the Trainer off, assuredly wishing him better luck next time. Misty took that as her cue to get things moving.

"Okay, guys." Misty patted a Slate sibling on the back with either hand. "School tomorrow; you guys have to do your homework."

"But Brock and Forrest don't have to!"

"Yes, and when you're old like them you won't have to either. Now get."

The children reluctantly scattered, leaving her alone to walk down the bleachers to the field.

"Wow," she started, a playful grin now tugging her lips. "How in the world do you guys fix this field after a Battle like that? We only ever have to pump more water into the pool and mop the floors."

"Heh, yeah," Brock rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, "let's just say that it's good for the economy around the city."

"Always doing your part, aren't you?"

"Sure am."

The two of them walked as Misty recounted the Battle from her vantage point, complimenting and criticizing throughout. Brock couldn't help but jump in and interject here and there to defend his choices. But ultimately it was more good than bad and since Brock couldn't stand being complimented too much, they fell to piecing together the challenger's strategy.

"Wait, where are we going?"

Misty had never seen this set of rooms before. It wasn't often that she had been able to visit Brock in the past—getting away from the Gym was hard for both of them, so they'd grown rather complacent with training together in Mt. Moon—but she thought in her scattered visits she had at least seen all of the place.

"It's an addition of sorts," Brock explained. "It was always here but we renovated it and added on to it a little."

"Well, what is it?"

They walked into a room with sterile white walls and tiles, the back wall being entirely lined with nearly full shelves. Everything seemed perfectly organized, almost more like a store than a room in someone's home. It practically screamed Brock.

"It's my office."

Misty had an office in the Gym too. It was a little closet with a desk and a chair and filing cabinets with only a bare-bulbed lamp for decoration. This room was a little different. For one, it was huge big enough to fit an…

"Onix, go!"

Misty yelped and stood back as Onix filled the length of the room. Its tail was curled a little, but aside that it was a perfect fit. It had to stay low to the ground, though, as the ceiling wasn't particularly high.

When Misty turned away from Onix and back to Brock, she saw that he had put a white lab coat on and was holding some tools.

"Oh, Brock! Is this a doctor's office?"

Brock put a hand to his chin as he examined Onix under a kind of magnifying glass, and Misty couldn't tell if he was pondering it or what she'd said. "That's basically what I was going for."

She took another look around. It didn't look at all like a Pokémon Center—well, the part of a Center that she got to see—nor did it look much like a human hospital. It was more of a hybrid of a doctor's office and a laboratory.

Misty had known that Brock had ambitions of being a Pokémon Doctor. He'd taken part in some amateur breeding at the Gym before deciding to shift focus about a year or two before. She'd been surprised, but he'd said that he felt like he could give more to the world as a doctor. And she had to agree with him on that front.

"Well, this is really great!" Misty exclaimed. "You're basically a full-fledged doctor now!"

At this point, Brock had pulled away from Onix and begun writing in a notebook, which Misty now realized came from another row of shelves that she hadn't yet noticed, this one lined with textbooks and other notebooks.

"Not quite," Brock said with a good natured chuckle. He reached for what looked to be a salve and applied it to the eroded part of Onix's body from when he had used Bind on the Rhyhorn. "I still need to become certified. I've been taking online classes and so I created this space for hands on work that I'm missing from not being able to actually attend a university."

Misty nodded. It certainly seemed like it would rival any university lab to her. "They let you do that?"

Brock closed the salve and went to wash his hands. "Well, no. Not really. You do need one year of experience in University and then you move on to residency."

"So then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to University."

Misty's eyes bugged out of her head. "What? When? Where? How?"

Brock laughed. "Don't be mad, but, in a few days—"

"What?"

"Violet City—"

"What? Brock, that's in _Johto_ —"

"And I don't think there's a good answer to 'how'. Because I applied?"

"Brock!" Misty exclaimed, trying to shake him out of the apparent enjoyment he was getting from her reaction. "How could you not tell me?"

"I'm sorry, you're right, I should have. I just had to make so many arrangements here at the Gym, not to mention in Violet, plus, you know, it doesn't really change our relationship. Our friendship has mostly survived through the invention of the telephone."

"You're right," Misty agreed, simmering down a little. "I just can't believe I didn't know! But I'm very, very proud of you."

Misty reached in to give Brock a hug, which he was only too happy to reciprocate. "Thank you."

"Wow, a real, certified doctor," Misty mused as she pulled away. "You do know that that means that you won't have a reason to visit Nurse Joy anymore, right?"

She expected Brock to look crestfallen—if not completely heartbroken—but instead, his face twisted into an altogether unsettling smirk. "Not if I get a residency with her. Then it's Nurse Joy and me working elbow to elbow together for a few years."

Misty watched as he gave a sigh of delight and seemed to melt into a puddle of goo on the ground before her. She couldn't help but to reach up to his ear and give a hardy tug just to yank him out of his fantasies.

" _Yaaaouch_!"

"Whoops, sorry!" Misty quickly held her arms behind her back and looked at Brock innocently as he rubbed his very red ear.

"Yeah, I guess I needed that," Brock admitted reluctantly.

They enjoyed a couple of silent seconds in each others' company, sitting in their familiar friendship before Misty said, "Well, if you're taking off to another region in a couple of days then I guess you need me out of your hair, don't you?"

"I guess," Brock sighed. "I still need to write down a lot of emergency instructions for Forrest. But really, you need to go out there for you. Get on with the journey you never got to have. Not just because I need to go and do some packing."

Misty smiled. "I guess we're both finally going on our journeys, huh?"

"I'm going to school. You're going on a journey. But, yeah, I guess we're both living out the dreams we never really got to have."

Misty swatted his chest. "Same diff. Anyway, I should be getting off—"

"No, it's different." Brock placed an arm on Misty's shoulder. "I know you don't know exactly where to go right now, but that's okay. In fact, I think it's great. It'll help you grow and learn more about yourself. So just get out there and go. You don't need a plan."

Misty was silent for a moment, trying to let the words seep and soak as best they could. "I never come to you for a life lesson, but I always get one," she finally said.

Brock laughed. "Yeah, and don't expect that to stop just because I'm in another region, okay?"

"Definitely not," Misty affirmed, joining in his laughter.

Brock turned off the lights in the room, saying that he wanted Onix to sleep outside of his PokéBall and they left, but not before Brock snagged some items off a shelf and placed them in Misty's hands.

"What are these?"

"Essentially HyperPotions," he answered. "Homemade, though."

"Thanks, Bro—"

"Ah, ah, ah," Brock waggled his finger. "No gratefulness. No tearful goodbyes. You need to get out of here before you stay for good. I don't need another mouth to feed."

Misty smirked. "Not even a girlfriend?"

Brock blushed. "No, maybe that would be okay," he mumbled as he poked his two index fingers together.

"Bye, Brock," Misty said as she slipped the HyperPotions into her bag.

"Call me when you get somewhere with a phone. Or when you have an interesting story."

"Of course!"

Brock all but shoved her out of the Gym and Misty almost wished that the kids weren't all at school. They would have slowed it down, at least.

It was funny. She felt like she was leaving more now than she had when she'd left Cerulean, but she also felt more at peace with it. Now she was ready to go.

So off she went.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you C'sMelody for your excellent beta work! You iron out my inconsistencies like I never iron my clothes.


	9. From Before

**A/N:** To _Iron-ninja_ : Thank you very much for your kind words! I'm glad you liked the chapter!

Thanks to C'sMelody for being such a pal. Not to mention fantastic beta.

* * *

 **From Before**

" _Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us_."

–Unknown

* * *

After all but sprinting—with a few hurdles—from Cerulean, and being kindly booted out of Brock's house, Misty decided that maybe it was a good time to take care of the precautionary aspects of her adventure. Brock's homemade HyperPotions were kind of a wake-up call because it was only then that she realized that she hadn't thought to bring any healing products of any kind. Her bike ride out of Cerulean had been a straight shot and she hadn't done any shopping.

So she took the opportunity to stock up on a few more Potions, some Status Healers, and a few PokéBalls, which she never needed at the Gym. Additionally, she stopped at the Pokémon Center to pick up a map book of the region and to give her Pokémon one last look over.

This was problematic, because she could never bring Noir to the Pokémon Center in Cerulean. It would raise too many questions, draw too much interest. So she had been forced to learn how to handle Noir's health as best she could on her own. After all, she was a Gym Leader, so she needed at least cursory knowledge of caring for the Gym's Pokémon. More than most ordinary Trainers. But she had to be Noir's only caretaker, which was a different challenge.

This caused Misty to dawdle a little in the Pokémon Center. She wasn't as well known in Pewter and so handing over a Banette, even one out of a PokéBall, shouldn't draw too much suspicion.

Still, she decided against it. Noir was great at communicating with her and, as a Ghost Type, tended to heal quite easily. There was no need to risk it. Especially since Nurse Joys tended to know a lot. Not to mention the fact that Pewter and Cerulean were neighboring cities, so Misty could bet that those two Joys talked a _lot_.

So Misty left the Center, and that was all the stalling she could do before reaching the Viridian Forest.

The Viridian Forest wasn't Misty's favorite place in the world. Even from the outside, the chirping and the buzzing were audible and shiver-inducing. Every far-off click sounded like a Pinsir clenching its horns together and chomping its mandibles.

Still, she knew she was being silly. Young Trainers traversed the Viridian Forest daily. The path was practically paved, as it was the major road between Pewter and Viridian. She had even heard of cars driving along it. It could only be assumed that the Pokémon didn't mind too much, as they were more acclimated to humans than most wild Pokémon.

With a rough shove, Noir had all but forced Misty into the forest, nearly pushing her right over her bike. She had been walking with it since spending so much time on it yesterday had left her sore. But now she was back on; anything to get out of the forest quicker.

Now, if only she could find a way to tune the forest sounds out. They were making her paranoid.

The best idea she could come up with was making idle conversation with Noir. It was a good distraction, at least.

"No, what I'm saying is that Water Pokémon—"

"Bay banette!"

"Yes, I know that, but—"

"Banette!"

"Fine!" Misty threw a hand up in the air and conceded to a very, very smug Noir. "You win."

"Nette nette?" Noir put a gray hand up to where her ears might have been had she had any and looked expectantly at Misty.

"And…And Ghost Pokémon have just as cute features as Water Pokémon because," Misty sighed, "because their bodies have wispy tendrils, which are practically the same as flippers," she ended with a grumble.

"Bay," Noir cheered happily, seemingly content, despite the fact that Misty was only regurgitating what Noir had said earlier. But hey, a win's a win.

Misty wasn't usually one to give into an argument that easily—not that this one had been easy; they'd been going back and forth for twenty minutes—but sometimes you just have to give into a Ghost Pokémon that can literally spend eternity fighting with you. It wasn't like they needed to pause for sleep or food or anything.

Though Noir would say otherwise. She certainly loved to eat just for the taste, even if she didn't derive anything from the calories.

"You know, I'm glad that Brock said what he did about us not having to know where we're going," Misty said breezily, stretching her arms over her head, reveling in being able to bike without them. Her sisters never could get that trick. "Takes a lot of pressure off. We could go to Cinnabar just because we feel like it or Vermillion City or even the Seafoam Islands," she mused. "Someplace tropical sounds nice."

"Bay."

"Mm, you think so too? Plus the more water we're around, the more exercise Staryu, Gyarados, and Frillish can get."

It would be great. She could ride in the ocean on Gyarados, or even Staryu, if she wanted. Best of all, there would be all kinds of Water Pokémon to study and catch. And since she no longer had the Gym Pokémon at her disposal, it would be nice to add a fresh face to the team. She wasn't in any rush, though. Just training with them while traveling would be a big enough change to start.

But what she _really_ wanted to do was something else entirely.

She pulled the tiny letter from her pocket. _I know what you are_. The 'what' was the interesting part. People knew 'who' she was. Not necessarily as famously as her sisters, but she was a Gym Leader. Gym Leaders were at least somewhat known. But _what_ she was…

Well, what _was_ she?

Much like she had told Brock, she had never met anyone like herself before. And she didn't know exactly how she'd come to be able to see and touch ghosts. So if someone knew about that, it would be huge. Finally there would be someone who really knew the answers to her questions. Her loving mother had been a help at first, yes, but she didn't know what Misty was any more than she knew.

As dangerous as it could be, Misty wanted to find this person. Especially if they had the same ability as her, like Brock had suggested. Answers would be priceless, and worth the risk of encountering a person who was possibly following her. How else could she explain this person knowing that she was in the Cerulean Cave and, more so, what she was?

Of course, she could only figure that this person lived in Cerulean, but even that was just a guess. This note was so to the point that she couldn't glean anything about the writer from it. But maybe, if she was lucky, she'd learn more on this journey.

Misty rolled her bike to a stop and hopped off, checking over her shoulder in the flicker of paranoia that came with feeling like you're being followed. But no one was around. She then folded the note small again and pocketed it, finding that to be much easier to do off the bike than on it, what with the minute size of her denim pockets. She had always complained that girl clothes got the short end of the stick with pockets. Her sisters had responded that the bulge of pockets would ruin any outfit and, duh, wasn't that what purses were for?

 _Rustle_.

Misty looked up. "Did you hear that, Noir?"

"Bay," Noir said with a nod, reflexively fading into a glow.

They both looked around, waiting to hear another sound. There was none. Misty relaxed. "Must have just been a woodland critter." It easily could have just been a tree-dwelling Pokémon leaping from one branch to another. That's more or less what it had sounded like. She was just being paranoid after thinking about people following her.

"Bay."

"Though it did sound different from all the sounds we've heard so far…"

"Bay…"

"Okay, well, let's keep going."

They moved forward with some hesitancy, Misty now walking the bike again so she could hear better. Her nerves were suddenly on edge as she absently rubbed her arms, trying to keep the phantom feeling of sticky legs walking across them at bay. But at least the chatter of the woods seemed friendlier now; a comfortable norm in comparison to the:

 _Rustle_.

"There it was again!" This time she wasn't playing around. Misty toed her bike's kickstand and moved aside, her legs immediately widened and crouched into a more offensive stance and hands resting on her 'Belt, ready to enlarge a 'Ball at a moment's notice. "Wait…do you hear that, Noir?"

Misty concentrated and from the direction of the rustle she could hear a light murmuring.

"How do you keep doing that?"

"I don't know!"

"Well, stop!"

"If I don't know how I'm doing it, then how can I stop it?"

"I don't know! You just do!"

It was definite. Those were voices, hissing at each other, and they sounded close. But not dangerous. They probably belonged to a pair of lost novice Trainers. And it was Misty's duty as a Gym Leader to help them. "Who's there?" she called, moving closer to the foliage on the side of the path, where the voices were coming from.

"What was that?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Obviously, I heard that."

"Can someone hear us?"

Misty frowned. Why didn't they just answer her? "Do you need any help?" she called again. She brushed the bushes to the side—making sure she wasn't touching any spider webs—and ventured into the actual woods.

"Oh my God, she can hear us!"

Through a gap in the brush, she spotted a teenage boy and girl, and the girl was pointing at her with an unsteady finger.

And they were both glowing.

Misty closed her eyes and took a breath that carried the weight of the world in it. "Do you think it's too late to play ignorant, Noir?" she mumbled under her breath.

"Oh my God, she can hear us."

The boy and girl walked straight through the bushes and trees to approach Misty, and the boy reached out to try to touch her as soon as he got close enough. With an eye roll, Misty stepped back out of the brush—she hadn't been very far in anyhow—and onto the main road. She'd have to hide if any travelers came across them, but for now she wanted the advantage of being able to move around instead of being trapped by twigs at every turn.

"Hey, where are you going‽"

Misty didn't reply, she just huffed as she brushed a few stray leaves off of her before turning back to them, looking a little bored.

"Why can you see us?" the girl asked, stepping forward out of the brush.

"You know, I wish I could tell you," Misty answered so truthfully it hurt.

"Are you human?" The boy reached out to try to touch her again.

"Stop it!" Misty snapped, slapping his hand away, leaving him—and the girl—flabbergasted. "And of course I'm human."

"But you have," the girl's eyes began to sparkle, " _powers_."

Misty resisted the urge pull her hand melodramatically down her face. "Look, do you guys need some help with something?"

"Yeah!" The boy stepped forward and put his hands on his hips, puffing his chest out slightly. "We want you to turn us back."

"Ooh, yeah!" the girl agreed. "Good idea!"

Misty sighed. "It doesn't really work that way."

"What?" the girl whimpered, all light dying in her eyes.

"Sorry," Misty said, being as sympathetic as she could. "You guys know that you're dead, right? No one can undo that."

"Of course we know that," the boy spat. "But it has to be possible for us to come back to life. Otherwise how would there be Pokémon like Phantump, huh?"

"Yeah, I don't really know what you mean by that," Misty said. "But I'm pretty sure that's not how that works either. And besides, Pokémon are always a different deal. That's kind of a rule of thumb."

"But you have to be able to," the girl said, stomping her foot on the ground, causing a small shift in the dirt around her foot. "We weren't supposed to die!"

Wait. Something wasn't right. "How did you do that?" Misty asked, taking a step back as she looked quickly between the upturned dirt and the girl's face.

"I wish I had my Kadabra right now to fight you with!" the girl continued as if she hadn't heard Misty, clenching her hands into fists and her voice rising in pitch with rage. The branches of a nearby boxwood rustled a bit around her; the same sound as before.

Both she and the boy were taking slow, menacing steps toward Misty, backing her into the far edge of the path. But she had to try to stand her ground as best she could. "Look, I know that you're upset. I understand that this is a tragedy and it's hard to accept, but you really have no other choice. I can help you get anything done that you need, like unfinished business, you know, and maybe—"

"No, you don't understand!" the boy interjected. Clearly the two were feeding off of each others' anger, much to Misty's misfortune. "How could you understand what it's like to be _dead_?"

"I can't," Misty said calmly, doing what she could to talk them down as she continued to back up, taking comfort only in that fact that Noir was right beside her. "But I can he—"

"Wait!" the girl shouted, pointing square at Noir. "She's got a Ghost Pokémon. That's so unfair!"

"No, it's not," the boy replied. "It's two on two."

The boy lunged forward and took a swing at Misty, who hopped quickly to the side. Noir flew in front as soon as the boy began to fall from his follow-through. Her eyes glowed dark pink and she brought a growing ball in the air between her hands, casting an eerie glow on her face. She fired it at the boy but he dodged it with ease, using his lack of a physical body to his advantage.

Meanwhile, the girl came at Misty from the side with her arms out as though she was going to tackle her, giving Misty no choice but to fall back into the foliage.

Angry ghosts were the worst. That's what Misty had learned in her years of experience. They hadn't come around so much when she was younger, but as she had grown older, ghosts had fewer and fewer qualms against causing her trouble, irritation, and, least fortunate of all, pain.

"Gah!" Misty cried out as she tripped over a rogue root, causing her to fall over backwards.

It only got worse from there.

A shrill scream bled from Misty's lips as her eyes caught view of what lay in the tree to which the root was attached.

Two Beedrill.

The girl, who had followed Misty through her fall in the brush, looked up and laughed. "Oh, so that's your thing, is it? Afraid of some bugs?"

Misty's ears fell deaf to the taunt, as her eyes were glued to the Beedrill. Her body was torn with the urge to run away, limbs flailing, mouth screaming, and the kind of paralysis that comes only from the deepest fear. Not even her eyes could move.

Suddenly, the large branch housing the two Beedrill began to sway, as though caught by the wind. But it was only that one, the few leaves on it rustling together as it shook independently from the tree.

That was enough to wrench Misty back into reality. Her eyes flew to the ghost girl, who was looking at that very branch, and concentrating hard whilst glowing more than usual. Was she doing that? _How_ was she doing that?

Misty didn't have any time to ponder the question when suddenly the Beedrill's eyes flashed red, and their wings flickered to life, adding to the buzzing voice of the forest.

Run.

 _Run_!

Adrenaline suddenly exploded into Misty's nervous system to the point that the very tips of her fingers were tingling, and she was off. She sprinted back the way that she had come, pushing away the bushes with abandon, careless for how they scratched against her bare skin. She nearly collapsed onto the main road, yelling, "Noir, come on!"

Noir was still fighting the boy, and they both appeared to have taken quite a beating. While the boy showed no physical damage, he was slower than before—the only way Misty knew to gauge a ghost's physical 'health.'

But that was the thing. They could slow, as though their bodies were wearing down in a fight, but they weren't. They had no bodies, so there was nothing to hurt. At some point, ghosts tended to disappear, but Misty didn't know how or why. So Misty had never known how to win a fight against them.

And today was no exception.

So, she ran.

She couldn't outrun a ghost, but she could sure as hell try to outrun those Beedrill. And she needed Noir by her side to attack them if necessary.

"Hey, where are you going?"

The boy ghost shot after them and was quickly on their tails, being followed directly behind by a buzzing that Misty didn't dare look at. He didn't seem to mind, though. "Oh, scared of a couple Beedrill, are we? Good thing I'm not."

They were only mad. Ghosts always seemed to get madder than humans. If only she could think of a way to calm them down and make them understand, then they would stop attacking her. But she just couldn't think of anything, her mind was too rattled to let her.

"Hey, I'm coming!"

Misty would have let out a groan, had she not already been gasping for breath. She didn't know what had paused the girl, but she had been grateful for it. And the boy was already so close without her help. And the Beedrill were so close. And she was so out of breath.

Suddenly, Noir stopped, turning around towards the enemies with her arms spread wide. A weary, but wicked smile glinted, matching a gold stave that appeared in front of her. Its diameter had to be as big as Misty's muscular calf; Noir couldn't even make her fingers touch as she took it in both hands. And, gruesomely, she stabbed herself with it.

"Ugh," the girl gasped, covering her eyes as she fell back further.

"It's a ghost," the boy hissed, though Misty hadn't missed how his cheek twitched as the stake broke through Noir's back, ripping like fabric. "There's nothing gross t—Argh!"

The both of them and the Beedrill all curled over as if in pain as Noir fainted to the ground. The stave dissipated into the air and her glow faded as her body slowly stitched itself back together.

"What the heck?" the girl asked as she straightened, shaking off the pain.

"You've been cursed," Misty stated, trying to sound strong, despite the fact that she was now completely uncovered. "It only gets worse from here. Now can we please talk rationa—"

"If we've got limited time…" the girl cut her off.

"Then we'd better make the most of it."

Hindered though they were, both of the ghosts advanced on Misty again. They obviously weren't fighters. This was important to Misty because while she wasn't usually one for physical combat, it had come up before. So experience, trivial though it was, was on her side.

Misty grappled as best she could, Noir's sacrifice having granted her a little breather and a second wind. Still, two on one wasn't something that she could keep up for long. If only she could spare just a moment to reach for her 'Belt and release Frillish. Just a single moment.

But she didn't have that. Her forearms were being used to parry the blows they were giving her, sometimes from their fists, sometimes from their legs. They were above her, and agile above all else, so it was all she could do to keep her angles covered.

Her only hope was Curse. It was sapping away at them, and the way they were throwing themselves around, they weren't doing themselves any favors. Fortunately, Curse had been enough to ward off the Beedrill, who had flown away in forfeit upon first blow.

Thank God. So at least she had her wits about her.

Though a knee to the side of her head was quick to end that.

Misty found herself on the ground, with two ghosts suddenly on top of her. She rolled as best she could, sending a few snapping kicks their way as she did so, getting the added advantage of a shove of momentum.

If they would wear out enough, they would give. These weren't evil ghosts—few ever were. Misty figured that most of the world's evil people moved on as soon as they died. Their unfinished work probably wasn't deemed important enough by the cosmos, or whatever. These ghosts weren't that. They were only teenagers dealing with anger and frustration the way most teens do.

Lashing out. Usually that unique gift was saved for parents and frenemies, but Misty was apparently the lucky recipient of the day. Hopefully they could get it out of their system and then the tears and real talk would come. Wasn't that how it was supposed to go?

Hopefully. Because now her head was really throbbing.

Maybe if she turned on her side and blocked her face with one arm, she could use the other arm to reach her 'Belt…

Suddenly it was easy. She could reach her 'Belt with no problem. That was different. She opened her eyes and moved her arm to see the two ghosts sprawled on the ground, being held at their throats by…

…A third ghost.

Misty sat up quickly, holding her head as her vision faded in and out, the throbbing now feeling like her skull was actually cinching her brain. She breathed deeply to fight the pain and bring back her sight; she needed to be able to see this.

With one last surge of adrenaline, Misty pushed herself to her knees and scooped Noir into her arms while keeping an eye on the battle. And she noticed something she hadn't noticed before. A little Pikachu, floating by the side of the third ghost. Floating and glowing.

A ghost Pokémon that wasn't a Ghost Pokémon.

Misty nearly gasped. After years of seeing ghosts of people, she had never seen a ghost of a Pokémon before. She had never assumed it to be possible.

The third ghost—who, Misty noticed, was a boy—had wrestled the two teens to standing, holding both of them at arm's length. He said something to them in a low, gravelly voice that Misty couldn't make out. The two others replied something, talking over each other frantically, gesturing as wildly as they could.

And then the three of them disappeared.

The Pikachu turned back to her, raising two fingers into a 'V' and said, "Pi Pikachu!" before disappearing as well.

Misty turned to Noir, who was still out cold, and breathed, "That was weird."

Then she fell over and gave into the blackness.

* * *

A pounding headache was what Misty's consciousness greeted her with. It was enough to rouse a strained grunt from her as she took inventory of her aches and pains. Aside from the headache, she could already feel a sizable bruise forming on her left hip. Her arms had to be black and blue all the way up and down as well, having received the brunt of the hits. Altogether not too bad, compared to what it could have been. She was lucky nothing was broken, assuming she didn't have a concussion.

Eh…if she had passed out, she was probably concussed.

Great.

Misty placed a hand on the ground to help push her up and was surprised when she felt grass tickling her fingers instead of the well-trod dirt of the main path. That was where she had passed out, wasn't it?

Blearily, Misty's eyes blinked open, taking in her surroundings. She was still in the woods, but the path was nowhere in sight. This was a lush part of the forest, heavy tree cover only allowing in shimmering speckles of sunlight.

Sunlight. That meant that she hadn't been out for that long. Unless it was the next day…

"You're awake."

Misty started, a shiver traveling through her bloodstream like tiny pieces of broken glass. She turned her head quickly, resisting the urge to wince at the new pain it caused in her head. No need to show weakness to a stranger.

But who she was met with wasn't exactly a stranger.

"Oh," she started, her voice sounding raspy. She cleared her throat as she forced herself up to sitting so that she could meet his eyes. "You're the ghost from before."

He was sitting to her side, up past her head, which was why she hadn't noticed him as soon as she had opened her eyes.

"Yeah," the ghost said, scratching the back of his head, just under his hat. "My—"

"Bay!"

At that moment, Noir came from behind a bush and leapt into Misty's arms, squealing with delight.

"Noir!" Misty exclaimed. She then turned back to the ghost asking, "Did you do this?"

"Yeah, I used some of your Potions to revive her."

The Pikachu also appeared, coming from the same direction as Noir. Noir fell out of Misty's lap, never one to be too touchy-feely, and went over to Pikachu, who was now nuzzling the ghost's side, as if for attention. The ghost scratched behind its ear, earning himself a contented, "Chaa."

The ghost had used her Potions? But that was impossible. To her knowledge, ghosts weren't able to touch anything physical—people or objects. Well, except for her, of course. That's why it had been so strange when that ghost girl had been able to unsettle the dirt path just by stomping.

Desperate for answers, Misty asked, "How?"

The ghost looked down, almost like he was trying to cover a blush. The Pikachu laughed at him, further validating her suspicion. "I kind of used your hand to pick it up. Sorry."

"Oh, don't apologize," Misty assured with the lilt of laughter. "Using my hand like a puppet. How ingenious." Looking back to the sky she remembered her first concern. "How long was I—" she glanced at Noir, "were we out for?"

"Well, your Banette recovered very quickly after I applied the Potion. As for you…" The ghost turned to the sky as well, squinting to make it out beyond the trees. "Only a half-hour, I would say. Maybe more, maybe less. You were pretty lucky."

"Yeah," Misty said, "that you saved me. Thanks for that."

"Oh, you're welcome," the boy said, looking bashful and proud at the same time.

"Anyway, we should really get on. Thanks again for all the help," Misty said, gesturing to Noir to join her. She took special care not to put any weight on her left hip as she pushed herself up, finding a more than a few new aches as she did so.

The ghost followed her up, looking concerned. "Are you sure that you shouldn't just set up camp or something and rest?"

Misty smiled tightly. "I can take care of myself, thanks."

The ghost raised his eyebrows, but he didn't say anything to the contrary. "Okay."

Misty was about to make to leave, glad to leave a ghost behind that didn't want anything from her. Yes, it felt like her job was to help wayward spirits, but it wasn't like she had signed up for it. She hadn't asked for the responsibility and yet it was constantly cast upon her. So she wasn't about to go looking for it.

Oh, but it wasn't to be that easy.

"I didn't get your name."

Misty turned back, an easy smile on her face. "It's Misty." Noir then tugged at Misty's hair, not unkindly, and Misty added, "And this is Noir."

"Oh, that's what you were trying to say before," the ghost said to Noir. He then turned back to Misty. "She was trying to explain her name, but since there wasn't a word for it, the closest I came to was black. I get it now. Oh, and hi, Misty." He thrust out his hand. "I'm Ash Ketchum."

Misty shook his hand automatically, but said, "You can understand Banette language?"

"Yeah." Ash shrugged. "I'm okay with a lot of Pokémon languages, but I'm best with Ghosts', since I can interact with them, you know? And Pikachu, of course," he added, ruffling Pikachu's ears again.

"Sure, sure," Misty said, nodding along, not showing how impressive that was. Rarely did people know Pokémon languages aside from those of their own Pokémon. And even then, language wasn't exactly the same from one Pokémon in a species to another. It wasn't as though they regulated them. And from Misty's knowledge, Banette weren't exactly common to the Kanto region. At least, she had never seen another one.

"I've never met anyone like you, you know."

That struck Misty out of her reverie. She had half-expected him to leave, since he hadn't asked her for anything. Perhaps he was one of the chatty ghosts? "I can't say the same."

Ash laughed. "Obviously. Did you know those two trying to take you out?"

Misty shrugged. "Probably Trainers. From what I could figure they must have died recently, probably in some accident on their journeys."

"Yeah, they said something like that," Ash added, looking away from Misty as he did so.

"Wait, you talked to them?"

"Well, as soon as I started threatening them, they became pretty talkative."

"Oh."

A normal person would probably then ask what was said. But Misty wasn't one to nose into conversations that she wasn't a part of, and she certainly wasn't one to ask about what two ghosts who had nearly tried to kill her had to say. So she kept her mouth shut and pushed through the last of the bushes, rubbing her bruised arms painfully where the branches had hit them.

At that point, Noir floated up to Misty and poked her head. "Nette banette bay."

"Oh, yeah," Misty said with a furrowed brow. "Where _is_ my bike?"

"Bike?"

"Yeah. How far away did you bring me from where I was?" she asked.

"Not very far."

Misty looked down. There was a distinct area of dirt that was upturned and scattered. That must have been where she had fallen in the scuffle. She had run a ways before that to get away from the Beedrill, but the path was pretty straight here, and she hadn't gotten all that far. Then her bike should have been…

"Someone stole my bike!" Misty shouted, new rage filling her bones. "What the hell?"

"Sorry," Ash said, sounding a little guilty.

Misty rolled her eyes, knowing that he was behind her and wouldn't see. She couldn't rationally blame this on him, but it was really helping her out to do so. It was nice to have a direction for her anger instead of letting it spout out of every little crack that she had.

"It's fine," she said gruffly. Even if she wanted to blame him, the man had saved her life. She couldn't show that she was mad at him. "I guess I'll just have to get on without it."

She had walked part of the way anyway. It wouldn't make too much of a difference, she supposed. Sure, a bike made better time, but it wasn't like she was in a hurry to get anywhere. Besides, the way her body hurt right now, walking was probably the only thing she could do. And at least she wouldn't have to lug a bike along as she did so. With that logic, Misty took off down the path, forgetting the bike and Ash and got on with getting on.

But not for long.

"Hey!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, his eyes going wide as he did so. "I've seen you before!"

Furrowing her brows, but still walking, Misty couldn't help but ask, "Where?" letting a shred of disbelief taint her tone.

"At the Pewter City Gym. You were there just yesterday."

Misty faltered, her legs hesitating as she was stunned speechless. She opened her mouth, letting a breath of air escape before she could form, "How do you know that?"

Ash shrugged. "I was watching the Battle. We like to do that a lot," he said, gesturing to the Pikachu. "It gets pretty boring around here."

Those weren't words that Misty often heard from ghosts. Yes, ghosts were a dissatisfied people, but it wasn't usually out of boredom. It was the understandable discontent of being trapped in purgatory. And, you know, dead. So that, along with what he'd said about learning Pokémon languages, forced a question into her mind.

"Just exactly how long have you been dead?" Misty asked. But then she heard how crass that sounded and amended it with, "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"No, it's fine," Ash said, looking up as he seemed to think about it. "How long do you suppose it's been, Pikachu?"

"Pi ka cha chu…" The Pikachu began counting on its fingers and then showed them to Ash.

"Yeah. Probably about thirty years," Ash answered.

Misty's eyebrows rose as she turned to where he was walking beside her. "Thirty years?"

"Yeah, about." Ash wiggled his hand from side to side to show the wiggle room. And, to Misty, his strange indifference. "A little more, I think."

"And this is true for both of you?" Misty gestured to Ash and the Pikachu.

Ash laughed. "Yeah, me and Pikachu've been together forever."

 _Before they died_ , was what that translated to in Misty's head. So they'd been partners when they were alive. Had they died together? She looked to where Pikachu was walking beside her, fondness softening her green eyes. It really was a cute species. Not a Water Type, but pretty adorable if she was being honest.

The Pikachu saw her eyeing it and jumped through the air into her arms. Misty gave a yelp as she managed to catch it and her cry gave way to a laugh as it began to nuzzle into her chest.

"Hey, he likes you!" Ash exclaimed, smiling widely. "He doesn't always take a shine to people so fast."

"Well, it sounds like it's been a while," Misty reasoned

"No, I mean not even other…ghosts that we've met. He's kind of picky."

"Are you, Pikachu?" she asked him, her voice pitched up a step and sounded gooey with sweetness. She shifted him to one arm and used the other to scratch his head, earning a delighted mewl. A bright giggle escaped from her mouth. "I have a hard time believing that."

"Well, believe it. He's shocked many an unsuspecting stranger in his day."

Pikachu sweat-dropped, but nodded earnestly.

"Uh, well maybe I should just hand him back to you then."

Ash took a break from his conventional walking and floated in front of her, reaching out his arms. But when she went to place Pikachu in them, he pulled his hands away, sending Pikachu falling for a couple feet before he caught himself in the air. Pikachu bristled and growled a threatening, " _Chu_ ," before a very real shock of electricity sparked from his cheeks and shocked Ash.

Misty threw her bruised arm up to block her face and fell back out of shock, though the Attack had not been directed toward her. Still, she felt the heat of it and heard the crackle that it sent down Ash's body. Ash, on the other hand, only laughed and shook it off, looking good as new a moment later.

"What the hell was that?" Misty asked bewilderedly.

"Oh, Pikachu and I have learned that he can use Special Attacks on anything, but Physical Attacks can only be used on other ghosts," Ash explained.

Wow. It was possible that this kid could open up a whole new realm for her. And he wasn't making any moves to leave so…maybe it wouldn't be too bad if he stuck around for a while. Maybe he could help her learn some things. Maybe this journey could be more useful than just a simple vacation.

Misty looked to Noir, who was giving her a knowing smile. Misty mirrored it and turned back to Ash and Pikachu as she began walking again.

"Really? Tell me more."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey! Hey, guys! I'm here with good news! Finally! I have the next _fourteen chapters_ planned out. And mostly written. I still have a lot more work to do, since this story is looking like it'll be close to 40 chapters...Eep. But this is a great start and it makes me feel a lot more confident in posting this chapter, which is one of my favorites, by the way, if not my complete favorite. I'm sure it'll be a favorite among you guys as well. ;)


	10. Stir Crazy

.

 **Stir Crazy**

" _Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated_."

–Confucius

* * *

Misty turned in early that night. Not only was her body ravaged from that fight with the ghosts, but her circadian rhythm was still thrown off from her day-and-a-half-long day. So she needed sleep and nobody argued her on that.

Ash had helped her find a cozy camping spot—and had scouted the area for bugs per her request—and she set up and went to sleep after a quick dinner, dead as a doornail to the world.

Apparently Ash knew the forest very well. Misty supposed that he must have liked hanging out there because of all of the wild Pokémon. Either that or it just hadn't changed much in thirty years.

Thirty years. That thought was still pretty incredible to Misty. Obviously she had met ghosts who had died a long time ago before—that ghost with the ring request had died some forty-five years prior. And her mother, of course, had been dead for ten years. But from the sound of it, Ash and Pikachu had been on earth the entire time. They didn't simply pop in from time to time. Near as Misty could tell, that wasn't normal. It had to be so lonely, so boring, so frustrating.

And really, she wanted to ask him more about it. It was the first time that she'd ever wanted to know more about a ghost. But what she was quickly finding to be true about Ash was that he certainly _wasn't_ the chatty type of ghost. In fact, he didn't seem to fall neatly into either of her two categories. He seemed to enjoy talking sometimes, particularly about Pokémon. Other times, he was content merely to walk along with Pikachu on his shoulder.

Perhaps he was just out of practice. Thirty years was a long time to have your main conversationalist only know the syllables _pi_ , _ka_ , and _chu_. If that was the case, then she'd just have to let him warm up to it. If he stuck around, that was.

Which it didn't look like he was.

Misty awoke the next morning to patches of fresh dew of early spring on the ground, resting coldly on her face. As she wiped it off, the cold morning kissed her arm, bringing shivers to her whole body. Immediately, her fine, golden body hairs pricked up, begging her to burrow into her cocoon.

It had been a little cold on the road, but her exercise had largely made up for it. She realized now that it would be imperative to at least buy a sweater in the next town to offset her tank and shorts combo. Nevertheless, she ignored her chill as she sat up on her forearms and opened her eyes. Right away, she noticed Noir sleeping and no sign of Ash or his Pikachu anywhere.

"Ash?" Misty called out, just to make sure that she wasn't missing him somewhere in the trees or anywhere out of sight. But she got no response except for Noir grumbling at being roused from sleep. "Oh, get over it. It's not like you need it anyway."

"Banette…" Noir muttered.

"Noir, do you have any idea where Ash went?"

"Nette."

"Hmm…what a mysterious guy…"

Misty took one more cursory look around, finishing with a shrug as she went to roll up her sleeping bag. So Ash and Pikachu had up and gone. That was fine. Misty hadn't asked for them to come around and she hadn't wanted them around. She had been hopeful about what information she could glean from Ash, but ultimately, this had been her plan all along. And she had learned a little from him anyway, so it had been a useful venture nonetheless.

"Let's get going then."

Breakfast consisted of a small protein bar eaten on the go so as to make the best time out of the woods. Misty hoped to make it to Viridian by midday, maybe even sooner if she kept a decent pace.

That would be challenging, though. Her ankle was practically good as new, though still wrapped as a precaution. But the rest of her body was achy and creaky, as if she'd aged twenty years overnight. As an athlete, she was pushing through it as best she could, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to at least complain a little bit and have Noir begrudgingly validate her misery.

"Let me tell you, if I ever see those ghosts again, I'm going to wring their necks but good," Misty grumbled whilst massaging between her neck and her head, trying to alleviate the bruised feeling of her skull.

"Bay banette."

"I know it wouldn't do any good! Ugh, that's the whole problem…"

Truth be told, Misty was a little bothered that she hadn't been able to handle herself in the fight the day before. She had had no way to win, and as a professional battler, that was very unsettling. Sure, she wasn't a _physical_ battler, but still…

Hmm… _Physical_ battling.

"Noir? Mind if we try a little experiment?"

Noir eyed Misty skeptically. Misty expected that, though. A coy look and her voice sweetly transposed up a key wasn't enough to fool a ghost.

"Bay bay."

"Well, remember what Ash said about Physical versus Special Attacks?"

"Bay."

"Wanna try that?"

Noir cast her gaze aside, considering the question, then answered it with an enthused shrug. Well, as enthused as a shrug could be, at least.

"Great!" Misty reached for Staryu's 'Ball and tossed it in the air while still walking along the trail. "Okay, Noir. Second plane."

The planes were what Misty had come to label Noir's—and all ghosts'—levels of existence. First plane was when a ghost was visible to everyone and could touch everything—essentially a corporal being. Only applicable to Ghost Pokémon, though. Second plane was the plane in which Noir began to glow and became only visible to Misty. This was the plane that ghost people lived in as well.

Third plane was where the mystery still lay. Third plane was this other location that Noir could travel to, but never really had been able to explain to Misty. Ghost Pokémon could simply vanish there via some kind of teleportation between planes, as could ghost humans that have not yet moved on. And that was the extent of Misty's knowledge on the subject.

And fourth plane, as Misty and her mother had come to coin it, was the afterlife in which Fleur had ended up. She said that it was peaceful and essentially what she had thought the afterlife would be like, but occasionally she was brought back to earth, and it wasn't entirely in her control. At least, that was how Misty's mother had explained it to her. That's why she didn't visit all the time, and why she wasn't constantly watching over Misty in second plane. She had passed on, but occasionally was pulled back. Perhaps there was some kind of fifth plane in which one could no longer be brought back, but they had only assumed that; there was no way to know for sure.

So as Noir fell into the glow of second plane, Misty said, "Okay, guys, we're gonna stage a little experimental Battle. But let's keep moving along as we do that, 'kay? Now, Staryu, Rapid Spin!"

Of course, Rapid Spin was a Normal Type Attack, so Misty hadn't expected it to work, but she needed to start somewhere. It took a few tries for her to try to aim Staryu, who couldn't see Noir before she wised up and simply told Noir to move into the Attack. And, as predicted, Staryu flew right through her.

"Okay, now we need a Physical Attack that isn't Normal," Misty strategized. But as the words left her mouth, she stopped in her tracks. "Uh…"

Noir and Staryu stopped as well to look at Misty, who was currently staring at the sky with her index finger placed pensively on her lip.

"Any ideas, guys?"

Noir shook her head and Staryu…well, Staryu shook its body from side to side in what appeared to be a negative response.

"Staryu doesn't have any other Physical Attacks," Misty mused.

It was true. To Misty's recollection, the only other Physical move that Staryu could learn was Gyro Ball, but she had never taught it that one. What use was a Steel Type move at a Water Gym?

"Haha, I guess Gyarados is really the Physical Attacker, huh?" Misty said, accompanied by a subtle sweatdrop. "Think it would be too obvious to release him in the middle of a forest?"

Noir nearly growled, clearly not too fond of the idea of being used as a crash test dummy against Gyarados.

"Alright, alright. We'll move on. Special Attacks, here we come!" Misty thrust her arm forward and began walking again. "Staryu, use Water Gun!"

Again, Noir had to move into the narrow spray of the Attack, but this time, it resulted in contact, making her fly backwards.

"Yeah, it works!" Misty cheered, putting a little pep in her step.

"Bay, banette," Noir grumbled good-naturedly as she got up from the ground where she had fallen, and floated back over to Misty and Staryu.

"Wait, Noir. You're in first plane again."

Noir looked herself up and down, despite not being able to see the difference herself, and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "Oops."

Noir had taken the time years ago to explain what shifting planes was like to Misty as best she could. Of course, it had taken the two of them ages to figure out how to do it or what even was happening. Apparently mastery over form wasn't something that ghosts were inherently born with. That caused Noir to struggle for months in the beginning.

After Noir had finally figured out how to stay in first plane and second plane—third plane had come much later—she had said that she couldn't see any difference in herself like Misty did. Never any glowing. She always saw herself as perfectly solid, even as she was passing through things. And the feeling of being in one form versus the other wasn't so much a physical feeling as much a conscious state. A conscious state that had taken a lot of concentration at first. And that had been why she hadn't been able to hold on to one plane versus the other; because she hadn't known what she was supposed to be concentrating on.

But now Noir had immense control over staying in one form. So being knocked out of it because of an Attack was interesting.

"Do you think you can control that?"

Noir shrugged her shoulders and floated far in front of them, putting herself in range for another Water Gun from Staryu.

"Alright, then let's find out. Really concentrate this time, Noir!" Misty nodded to Staryu, who fired another Water Gun that Noir dove headlong into. Noir spun out in the air, but ended up floating upwards, glowing still. But Misty hadn't been able to tell if, as soon as the Attack made contact, Noir had fallen out of her form. She called that over to Noir, who shrugged, apparently also unable to tell. Misty turned to Staryu. "Staryu, right when the Attack hit, could you see Noir?"

Staryu tilted forward and back in the air, a crude attempt at a nod.

That was strange.

"And you couldn't feel that at all, Noir?" Misty asked as Noir again flew back to them.

Noir shook her head, frustration evident on her face. It was as though she were dealing anew with a problem that hadn't plagued her since her first year of life.

"Maybe it's something you can't control?" Misty suggested.

"Hey, you're Misty Waterflower!"

Misty started, her heart feeling as though it had just attempted to exit out her chest—and her bladder feeling as though it had nearly exited out her urethra. She turned around, the only thought in her now very empty mind being that she was thankful that whoever had just scared her shitless couldn't see Noir right now.

"Sorry, did I scare you?"

Except, clearly, he could. In front of her was a bright-eyed boy, freckles dotting more of his skin than not. He looked quite young, certainly no older than twelve, or maybe puberty was just a little late in hitting him, causing him to stand quite a few inches shorter than her. But, most interesting—or not, in Misty's eyes—was that he was glowing.

"Uh, just a bit," Misty said as her breath came back to her, taking the hand off her chest that she hadn't realized had flown there. "I'm—"

"Oh, cool, a Staryu!"

The boy walked right up to Staryu who was floating at nose level to him and seemed to be examining it curiously with a pensive look on his face.

"Um, excuse m—"

"Your Staryu is a bit dry, Miss Waterflower," the boy said, disappointment on his face. "The top spine is moist, which tells me that you've been battling with it. But the rest of its armor is practically dry, telling me that you haven't soaked it. Probably since you were last at your Gym. And since we're in the Viridian Forest, that must have been days ago."

"Yes, you're right, but Staryu's only been out fo—"

"Here, let me use this." The boy reached into his bag to pull out a washcloth, soaking it through with water from his canteen and reached up to wring it out over Staryu. "Hmm, doesn't seem to be doing much good. It must be drier than I had first though. Anyway, I use this cloth to shine my Metapod because Harden works better when—"

Misty gulped. "M-Metapod?"

"Yeah, and my Venomoth!" he said after placing the washcloth on Staryu's back. "Bugs are my favorite. Wanna see them?"

"No, I really, _really_ don—"

"Come on out, guys!"

And Misty was out of there. She grabbed Staryu by the arm and ran before she could even remind herself that the boy's PokéBalls were empty. They wouldn't release anything anymore than that rag had released any water onto Staryu. Nevertheless, Misty went flying right past Noir and trailblazed down that path as fast as she could, leaving the poor babbling bug-catcher ghost in her dust.

* * *

The forest had gone by in a blur of green.

And to Misty's paranoia, every bit of that green could have been hiding an endless swarm of Metapod.

All that had been in her vision was a narrowing dirt path flanked by thickening, brightening greens. It was like looking down an endless hallway and watching as the parallel lines of the corridor narrowed until they faded into nothing. Except as Misty went down the path, it narrowed with her steps, throwing off her perspective.

She was in the thickest part of the forest now. Outside of the wind whistling in her ears and the sound of her hair falling out of its messy ponytail and flapping against her face were the eerie sounds of the forest. Every clack sounded like Pinsir snapping at her. In the past couple of days the sounds of the forest had fallen into the background, but now it was the only sense she was aware of as she flew blindly through the forest.

By the time Misty's wits caught up with her, her adrenaline was pouring back out of her system, reminding her of all of the aches and pains that it had numbed for the past few minutes and better part of a mile. They came back full force, combining with how winded she now was to cause her to double over, relieving everything save for her throbbing head. As she did so, her blood began pounding in her ears, finally something loud enough to drown out the voices of the forest.

"Man, Noir," Misty wheezed in between pants. "I'm starting to think that maybe I don't always make the best decisions."

"Nette _bay_ banette."

"Yeah, exactly. I'm saying a," she looked at her watch, "four minute sprint is hardly a good decision."

"Bay bay nette baynette."

"Yes, especially from something that wasn't actually a threat."

After a few more heaving breaths, Misty managed to pull herself together and stood erect. She raised her arms, pulling on one to try and stretch out the cramp that was now forming in her right side. She reached her arm over her head and returned Staryu back to its PokéBall.

"That poor kid," she mused as she massaged her side. "I don't think he even realized that he was…you know, dead."

Noir nodded in agreement, frowning as she looked back the way they had come.

"Yeah, the right thing to do would be to go back," Misty agreed to the words Noir had left unspoken. "But you saw him. He seemed so innocent. I'm not sure that I could have broken that kind of news to him."

As the cramp began to loosen, Misty shook herself out and began slowly walking again, lacing her fingers together and putting her hands on her head as she took great effort to move each leaden foot forward.

"Ugh. I need a painkiller," she moaned when she felt her 'healed' ankle beginning to whine at her again. "Or maybe just a killer. Shoot me and put me out of my misery."

"That isn't as great as it sounds."

Misty felt surprise hit her, but she couldn't manage any physical reaction to seeing Ash appear beside her, Pikachu on his shoulder. "I'm going to go crazy before I even make it out of these woods," Misty muttered to herself, eyes going wide at the potential truth of that statement.

"Besides, if you were to die here your body would be feasted on by Bugs before you even got the chance to decay naturally," Ash said matter-of-factly, followed up by Pikachu with an agreeable, "Chu."

Misty didn't say anything and just continued to walk forward in silence, feeling her three ghosts following along behind her. And an army of imaginary Bugs feasting on her body.

"Although…that does bring up something that Pikachu finally convinced me that I should mention to you," Ash said to her back. "That's kinda why I'm here. Sorry to drop in randomly like this."

"What's that," Misty asked tonelessly, still trying to get her breath back.

"Um," Ash floated above Misty and landed in front of her, effectively stopping her in her tracks. However, he refused to make eye contact, looking down as he said, "About the two ghosts from before…You didn't ask about what we had talked about and so I didn't know how to bring it up. But it involves you, I guess."

"Of course it does," Misty grumbled under her breath.

"Their names are Fay and Daniel," Ash started, meeting her eyes for only that part. Probably the easy part. "And they said that they weren't supposed to die. That's probably why—"

"Every ghost says that, Ash," Misty snapped. "No one thinks that they were _supposed_ to die. I bet you don't either."

Ash turned to her, a look of irritation rushing over his face for a second before Pikachu patted him on the shoulder, urging him to continue. "They said that they don't remember much about how they died. And uh…"

"Oh, don't tell me," Misty broke in, laughing hysterically as though Ash had just told a great joke. "They want me to solve it, avenge it, do something about it, don't they?"

"Uh, yeah, something along those lines," Ash muttered, carefully avoiding Misty's eyes of rage. "But, if it helps, they said that they wouldn't bother you. I took care of that."

"Well, bully for you!" Misty declared, throwing her arms widely. "Why don't you go tell your little ghost pals that I don't know how to do any of those things. I can maybe tell Officer Jenny once I get out of these godforsaken woods, but that's it. That's all I can do!"

"That's fine, that's fine," Ash said, putting his hands up and moving to the side. Without thinking, Misty barged forward, now that her path was clear again, and began walking.

This was too much. Stolen bikes, absurd dead Bug Trainers lecturing and scaring her with their non-existent Pokémon, mysterious deaths, being abused by ghosts—her body thusly having been beat into a bloody pulp—being followed by ghosts, ghosts, ghost, _ghosts_!

"Um, Misty?" Ash started hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, you know," Misty started, her voice strident with tension. "I just never imagined life on the road being quite like this."

"Sorry," Ash said, wincing to himself. "I didn't mean to make anything more difficult for you."

"Oh, your kind never do," Misty blurted, not letting the shame of that statement affect her even as she saw a pain-like emotion flicker over Ash's face.

Ash rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Um, okay, well, do you want to, uh, talk about it?"

"Well, I just always imagined journeys being about catching and training Pokémon." Misty paused and fingered Staryu's PokéBall, painting the scene in her mind. "Meeting Trainers and swapping tricks and stories. Maybe even traveling together. Living off the road and local Pokémon Centers and your bond with your Pokémon. Because that should be enough to live off of. You know? Was I crazy to think that's what it could be?"

Ash was quiet, looking at the ground, to which he had floated down, though he continued to keep a considerable distance. He kicked at the ground, as though trying to dig up some dust, but, of course, none came up. "No, I don't think you're crazy," he finally said.

"But I must be crazy," Misty said, a maniacal laugh coloring the words as she began to walk ahead of the group. "Otherwise why would ghosts be the only people I talk to?"

Misty accusingly threw her arm towards Ash on those last words, letting them bite at him across the air. Out of the corner of her eye, Misty saw Noir flinch at the words, but she ignored it.

"Well, that's not true," Ash started delicately. "You're friends with…uh, you said his name was Brock, right?"

"He's the only one!" Misty shouted. "He's literally the only _live person_ that I talk to! Other than my sisters, if they even count. I mean, apparently I'm too crazy to talk to them; otherwise I wouldn't have left."

Ash caught up to Misty, with Noir and Pikachu still trailing apprehensively behind. He looked like he didn't know what to say, opening his mouth for a few false starts before he finally asked, "Well, why did you leave, then?"

 _Because I'm crazy!_ were the vitriol on the tip of Misty's tongue. But as much as she felt herself going around the bend in this moment, those words didn't feel honest. That moment of hesitation allowed her a beat, a breath to steady herself and feel the heat that was flushing her face in crazed anger die down.

"You know, I think it's different now than it was three days ago," she began quietly, almost calmly. "I was mad at my sisters…I've always been mad at my sisters. That was tarnishing everything in my life. I wanted to go on the journey that they'd never allowed me to go on. But now I guess it's just to learn about myself. About my Pokémon too, of course. Because I don't really know what I'm doing in this world." She paused and looked at Ash. "In these worlds, I guess. I've let it be decided for me. And I'm stronger than that."

"I think those are good reasons," Ash said kindly, daring to step closer to Misty. "I don't think that anyone should leave home to run away from their family. Family is too valuable for that."

Misty turned to him, attempting eye contact for the first time in the conversation. But Ash's eyes were averted and distant. And immediately, Misty felt horrible. Here she was complaining about her life to someone who didn't even have life.

Well, wasn't that a fact to put things in perspective.

Misty fell quiet, walking with her eyes to the ground as Ash floated wordlessly beside her. It was only when she heard Noir's voice that Misty looked up again. But for once in her whole life, Noir wasn't talking to her.

Noir was talking to Ash.

Noir was explaining Misty's sisters, painting them as selfish and self-interested. She said that Misty was doing them a favor by throwing some responsibility on them. This turned into a rant about the Gym and the life that had been cast upon Misty with very little choice from, essentially, the beginning.

It sounded exaggerated to Misty's ears. Her sisters weren't monsters. But she knew that Noir was just telling it for her benefit—to humanize Misty to Ash's, rightly, biased heart.

"I know about the Gym," Ash finally said, cutting Noir off and proving that he had, indeed, understood every word. "I've seen it before."

"What?" Misty asked, looking between Ash and Pikachu. They had been looking in on her Gym as they had with Brock's?

"Yeah," he stated. "I like Gyms. I've seen all of them."

"But you implied that you hadn't seen me before," Misty insisted. "And I would have noticed you if you were hanging around the Gym."

"Eh, I haven't been to your Gym as much as the others."

"What, is it not good enough for you?" she bit sarcastically. "A kid running a Gym not enough for a ghost with a lifetime—and then some—of experience?"

Misty was surprised when Pikachu immediately leapt off Ash's shoulder and began sparking his cheeks at her, hair on his back raised and prickly. She backed off, knowing very well that those shocks would leave her crispier than she wanted if they got too close. But Pikachu had been so friendly to her. Why was he suddenly barring his teeth like she was his enemy?

"What?"

Pikachu began chattering angrily, and Noir resumed her argument with Ash, this time with Pikachu. Misty could only understand bits of Noir's side of the argument, but Ash seemed to be getting most of it. She watched as his expression turned from incensed—presumably by her—to concerned rapidly. "Pikachu, no!"

In an instant, Ash reached out for Pikachu and had him above his head, only for the both of them to be illuminated by fresh shock waves.

Noir slunk back, returning to the shadows behind Misty, who was also taking a few healthy steps away from the electricity.

"Th-Thanks, Pikachu," Ash stuttered, releasing Pikachu into the air. Guiltily, Pikachu floated away, muttering what sounding like an apology behind him.

"What was that about?" Misty asked in bewilderment.

"Nothing," Ash grumbled, patting his clothes down even though the electricity hadn't changed his form at all. "Look, I stay as far away from the battle as possible so that the Pokémon don't sense me."

"Oh," Misty intoned lightly, brushing through her bangs to hide her face. "That makes sense."

"Not to mention the fact that I noticed a _Banette_ ," she caught sight of a slight smug smirk cracking through his hardened expression, "there years ago and I didn't want to draw attention. And a Frillish, right?"

Eyebrows raised in surprise, Misty said, "Yeah, that's right."

"And a pool…so you're a Water specialist?"

"That's right!" Misty said again, this time with a proud smile.

The notion of Water Pokémon buoying her out of the depths of her thoughts, Misty could now feel the telltale squeeze of a self-inflicted mistake pressing on her core. It was as though someone was bending her over a human-sized citrus squeezer and giving her a rough push and a twist. The discomfort was enough to make her suck her stomach in, letting the tension take over as words began to spill out of her mouth.

"Listen…sorry for acting crazy a minute ago," Misty blurted, looking straight down the path. "These woods are just making me a little nutty, I guess. Being thrown into new situations all at once without all the familiarity of my life. It's just something to get used to, I guess."

"It's no problem," Ash stated, waving her away. "Everyone's allowed to act crazy once in a while."

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed, looking mischievously at Ash.

"Hey! I'm not crazy!"

Ash and Pikachu began chasing each other, bringing the circles they were running up into the air until their battle was far over Misty's head. After a moment of that, though, Ash looked up, as if in thought.

"As for the woods…" Ash started, coming back down to Misty.

Before Misty knew what was happening, with a screech she was whisked into the air, Ash's arms secure under her ribcage, as if lifting her in a dance. Up they went, Pikachu and Noir following, until they reached the treetops and then even beyond.

"Is this really a good thing to do to a concussed person?" Misty shrilled.

"You'll be fine, just trust me!"

Trust him? Trust a _ghost_?

"See over there?" Ash said, turning his and Misty's bodies in the direction of some far off buildings. "That's Viridian City. Probably only a couple of miles away. We'll be out in a half hour."

"Really?" Misty asked, her heart beating like a drum swallowed and stuck in her throat.

She was many stories high in the air and at any moment could plummet to her death. But Ash had already saved her life once, and she felt comfortable in his arms. This trust tempered her muscles, letting her relax in his strong grip, save for her smile, which pulled wide as a friendly breeze licked them and the treetops. She closed her eyes and felt her hair whip against her face, reveling, for once, in the good side of a ghost.

* * *

 **A/N** : Well, that C'sMelody sure is a piece of work. Forcing me to rewrite a section of this chapter over and over. Except that it was my choice and I was the one that changed it in the first place and it actually was really bad before she made me fix it and it's still a little weird, but we're letting it go, because it's best to move on, yes?

Thanks, boo.

 _Fun fact_ : You'll notice the word ' _ribcage_ ' a few paragraphs up. At my fruity theatre school, we're not supposed to call it a ' _ribcage_.' We're supposed to call it: ' _our pink basket of living ribs_.' Aaaand that, in a nutshell, is why people think what they think about actors.

Hope ya'll enjoyed this one!


	11. Starting Place

.

 **Starting Place**

" _Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced_."

–Soren Kierkegaard

* * *

Stepping foot on undusted concrete and seeing the dry dirt of the forest fall off her shoe filled Misty with endless relief. A great burden fell off her shoulders as images of a bed, a hot shower, and real food filled her mind's eye, making her salivate with anticipation.

"There's the Pokémon Center."

Ash pointed it out right away—even though Misty hadn't asked; she would have picked it out anyway. Her tired feet felt light as she made a beeline for the huge, domed building of which she could only see the red tip over the other rooftops. She would bet that it could be spotted from most corners of the city, much like the Pokémon Center in Cerulean.

Only Ash and Pikachu were by her side as she walked through. Noir was fine in Cerulean—fine enough, at least—but an unfamiliar city was cause for her to decide to take off. Ash and Pikachu didn't seem to have quite the same reservations. She could only assume it was because all of the people that signaled annoyance for Noir meant essentially nothing to the two of them. It wasn't like they could interact with people of any kind.

Arriving in the Center sent an onslaught of heat through Misty's chilled skin, having been constantly prickled by the bitter atmosphere of winter turning to spring. She took in the smell of the air that was blasted at her, noting that it smelled exactly the same as her Pokémon Center. And the interior proved to be much the same; the building was the standard shape of Centers in Kanto, only with different trappings to the one in Cerulean.

The sense of routine would have comforted her, but having Ash and Pikachu floating behind her was throwing Misty off. She was used to Noir's hovering presence, but Noir didn't talk all that much. Pikachu somewhat mimicked that effect. Ash, on the other hand, was a human. More or less. Having a human walking alongside you created a strange sense of expectation. She knew she didn't have to fulfill it—Lord knew when it came to ghosts she didn't _have_ to fulfill anything. She was just often coerced into it—but she had a feeling that expectancy would linger on for a while yet.

Trying her best to ignore him, Misty made her way to the front desk, knowing that at least Staryu needed a bit of attention, given how dry its skin was…as had been recently pointed out to her. She placed its 'Ball on the counter and was about to speak a word of greeting to the Center's Nurse Joy when she was cut off.

"Ma'am, are you okay?"

Misty cocked her head at this Nurse Joy, confusion striking her before she followed the nurse's gaze to her arms. By now the bruises from her scuffle with those forest ghosts—Fay and Daniel, Misty's memory triggered—had mottled her skin, having turned from an angry red to a dark blue. "Oh, this…" Misty tried to play it off with a laugh. "It's nothing."

"Well, judging by the color, they're healing," Nurse Joy said, her eyes kind. "Nothing for you to be concerned about. Just seeing that kind of thing from a young trainer concerns me, is all. It's my nature." Nurse Joy's laugh tickled the air as she averted her eyes, trying to play off any awkwardness and lighten the tone. "Your Pokémon will be returned to you shortly."

"Thank you," Misty said. She went to turn away from the counter, but quickly pivoted on her heel as a thought occurred to her. "Actually, can I use one of your phones?"

"Of course. Over there," Nurse Joy answered, gesturing to the north wall, lined with video phones.

"Thank you."

Misty wanted to drop Brock a line to let him know she'd made it out of the forest okay. And she admitted that her sisters probably deserved a quick phone call. She owed them that much, at least. Choosing the chair opposite the last phone on the row, Misty clicked the on switch, waiting for the monitor to warm up.

"Hey, while you do that, we're gonna slip into the back room to see how she handles your Pokémon," Ash declared, slightly startling Misty. She'd been so focused on ignoring him that she'd nearly forgotten he was behind her. Not wanting to draw any attention to herself, she gave a stiff nod and saw him and Pikachu disappear through the wall in her periphery.

The on light turned green and Misty typed in the familiar phone number. It rang for a few moments before the monitor glowed a dark gray to show that someone had picked up but their video was off. "Hello?"

"Hey, Brock!" Misty said to the deep voice on the other line. "It's me!"

"Not quite…" The video switched on, revealing a tan face topped with spikey hair. But the hair was a little too long and the face a little too young. It was almost Brock but, as the voice had said, _not quite_.

"Forrest!" Misty said, surprised, but not altogether displeased to see him. "The newly minted Gym Leader! Can you put your brother on the phone?"

"No can do, sweet thing." Misty grimaced. Forrest was going through his strange pubescent flirtatious stage. She remembered when Brock had gone through that…eh, he still kind of _was_ going through that. "He's already left for Johto."

"Oh," Misty sighed, unable to keep the disappointment out of her tone. "Well, can you give me his new number so that we can keep in touch?"

"For you, anything."

Misty rolled her eyes, choosing to focus on being grateful for the pad and pencil beside the phone monitor. She wrote down the number and quickly ended the call with Forrest, deciding that perhaps a call to her sisters would be better than this. She loved Forrest like a brother and usually preferred him to her actual siblings, but at least her sisters had never flirted with her.

Obviously, she kept them at a low bar.

After slipping Brock's Johtan number into her backpack, deciding she'd make time to memorize it later, she punched in her own phone number, hoping that her sisters were even home. The phone made a small click and the gray screen returned. "Hello, Cerulean Gym?" Misty heard trilled in a high pitched voice.

"Daisy?"

Instantly the monitor flickered to color, revealing Daisy's excited face. "Oh, my God, Misty! Like, how are you doing? Surviving the road?"

Suddenly, Misty wished that she had thought to go out into town before making this call to buy that sweater she'd been thinking about that morning. Anything to cover her arms with. But she hadn't, so she kept her hands folded in her lap as she lied through her teeth, "It's great."

"Oh, we're so proud of you, Misty." Daisy put her hand on her chest, smiling fondly. "We would never be able to do that."

Misty smiled lightly. "Oh, I'm not sure about that."

That caused Daisy to laugh uproariously. "Come on, Misty, you know it's true."

"…I suppose so."

After that, Misty didn't really know what to say. And apparently neither did Daisy, as she was just smiling vacantly into the camera. Although…Daisy was an expert on one thing. Misty had never imagined it, but maybe she could use Daisy for some advice. Before she knew what she was doing, the words tumbled out.

"Hey, Daisy, can I ask you something?"

"Ooh, baby sister has a question!" Suddenly Daisy's eyes were sparkling and she was clapping her hands giddily. "And here I thought Lily had asked all of the world's sisterly questions and there were no more for you."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Me too." Lily _was_ the airheaded sister. And that, of course, was saying something.

"So, like, what's the question?"

Subtly, Misty tried to glance around, to make sure the coast was indeed clear. There were a couple of patrons in the sitting area, conversing and reading magazines, but other than that, she was alone. "If you…meet someone and you want to know more about them, but you can't really ask them about it, what would you do?"

Daisy gasped. "Misty, did you, like, meet a boy?"

"No!" Misty immediately insisted, feeling her face turning red. "I have met no boys."

"Hmm, sure, sure," Daisy acquiesced, though she was eyeing Misty's face with obvious suspicion. "Why can't you ask this not-boy about him—er—themselves?"

"Because I don't think they'd want to."

To be fair, Misty had only spent a total allotted time of perhaps a few hours with Ash. So it wasn't fair to make too many presumptions about him. But the fact that he wasn't asking anything of her was disconcerting. Never before in her sixteen years of life had she met another ghost who didn't want her help. And she wanted to know why.

Daisy rolled her eyes, smiling at Misty's pout. "Misty, you're, like, being dumb. You're just doing what you always do and holding yourself back from making friends. Put yourself out there and just, like, ask this guy about himself if you want to know. If that doesn't work, then you can ask me for more advice, but I want to hear that you at least tried!"

It was a little belittling. A little demeaning. No less than Misty expected from one of her sisters. But…

Ugh, she was right.

Misty hadn't talked to Ash much after he'd shown her Viridian over the treetops. The moment speech had petered out between the two of them, she'd let it and they'd walked together in silence. He seemed a little shy, but she supposed that would only be expected to happen if you were a ghost for thirty years.

Or if you'd spent your life with only a Banette and a kid from another town as your friends.

"Hey, Misty. Did that, like, help at all?"

Misty realized that she had been silent for a bit, which wouldn't really bother her, but she had to imagine that any silence was anxiety-filled to Daisy's babbling pace.

"Right, sorry. Yeah, it did. But—"

"But nothing. You're going to do it and I don't want to hear anything else about it. You asked my advice and, like, this is it. Put yourself out there, Misty. It can only be good for you."

Misty smiled a little in spite of herself. "I'll give it a go."

"Okie dokie then! I want to hear all about this boy next—"

"It's not a boy!"

"Alright!" Daisy agreed amicably, but the too-excited smile on her face told Misty that she still thought Misty was lying.

Which she was. Ash _was_ a boy. But it wasn't like he was a… _potential_ boy. Not the kind of boy that her sister was expecting.

Nope. Just your run of the mill, typical ghost boy.

"Thanks for the help, Daisy."

"Any time! Aw, what's that behind you?" Daisy tilted her head to the side, looking past Misty. "Aw, are those, like, missing children posters? That's tragic."

Misty twisted in her chair, nervous for a second that Ash or Pikachu had returned and caught a bit of her conversation. Then she realized that was ludicrous because there was no way they were what Daisy was looking at. She then followed Daisy's sightline to the back wall of the Pokémon Center. Sure enough, the wall had a couple of posters of faces. Misty thought back to what Ash had said about those two ghosts, Fay and Daniel. Could it be…?

"I should probably go, Daisy. Thanks again for the advice."

"But of course, little sis! Have fun!"

Well, fun would just have to wait. Misty turned off the video phone and walked towards the posters. She didn't even have to get close to be able to tell that they were the same ghosts from the woods. But it did give her the opportunity to take a closer look at them.

The pictures were official-looking headshots, so they were probably registered Trainers and these were their ID photos. Fay—Fay Edwards, Misty now noted from underneath the picture—had purple hair that was quite pretty, even without a mystical bluish glow illuminating it. Her eyebrows were the same color, a little thick, hanging heavily over brooding eyes. She looked the part of a moody teenager.

She'd certainly acted the part as well.

Daniel Kolle appeared much more amiable. Everything about him seemed soft, from his brown hair to his baby-fattened cheeks to his golden eyes. He, for one, looked completely different than he had just a couple days before.

Unfortunately, they were labeled as 'missing.'

Of course, Misty knew that wasn't _precisely_ true.

She sighed heavily. She hated bearing this kind of responsibility. A little bit further down the hall, there was another poster with the face of another child. A freckled boy named Jeremy. Misty frowned. That was unmistakably the other ghost boy from the woods.

But his was different. His didn't say "missing person" or anything of the sort. His said "In Memory Of."

So he had passed away and was unconnected to Fay and Daniel. Misty decided to let that be a good thing, because at least it was probable that his family was at peace. She didn't let the irony of the fact escape her that the kid that didn't seem to know that he was dead was the one that the rest of the world knew was dead.

Misty dragged her palm down her face, shaking her head mindlessly. She opened one eye and glanced back at Fay and Daniel. They looked like nice kids. Not at all like the crazed ghosts she had met earlier. She looked down at her marred arms and could still feel the bruise on her hip against the unforgiving denim waist of her shorts.

She just couldn't trust ghosts.

But…she knew she had to help.

* * *

Misty stepped out of the Pokémon Center and turned her head from side to side. She needed to find the police station. Nurse Joy was probably the person to ask, so Misty went to turn on her heels when a girl passed by on the sidewalk in front of her. Misty felt a squeamishness inside her at the prospect of asking someone for directions, but she heard Daisy's words ringing true in her ears. She needed to put herself out there. Plus, she figured that asking for directions was a skill that she would need on this journey and the quicker she got over herself the better. Closing her eyes and squeezing the words out of her, Misty blurted to the girl, "Excuse me, miss? Could you show me to the police station?"

The girl turned around, her long red hair tied in a rope-like braid swinging at the change in direction. "Who, me?" the girl asked, directing a finger to herself.

"Yeah," Misty replied, trying not to allow any trepidation into her voice. "Could you at least point me in the direction of the police station?"

"Sure," the girl answered immediately. "In exchange for a Pokémon Battle. Assuming you're not in dire circumstances, that is."

"What?" Misty asked, looking around at the narrow street. "Here?"

"No, there's a little pavilion-type thing around the corner," the girl answered. "Hey, wait! You're the Cerulean Gym Leader, aren't you? Oh man, this'll be so awesome. My name's Molly," she said as she thrust her hand out. "Can I get a badge for this if I win?"

"Uh, no," Misty stammered as she shook Molly's hand. "I'm taking a vacation right now."

"Oh, too bad. Well, it'll be good practice at least. I'm hoping to challenge the Viridian Gym A-S-A-P," Molly explained with a contagious smile. "Anyway, come this way if you want to find the police station."

Molly didn't wait for a response from Misty as she walked in what Misty assumed to be the direction of the pavilion. Misty was left with no choice but to chase after her. She figured that she wasn't on any real kind of time constraint, considering Fay and Daniel's fates were already sealed. And it wasn't like she owed them anything. Not to mention the fact that a good Battle would clear her head and have her feeling in her element again.

Around the corner from the Pokémon Center, as promised, was a large pavilion made of slabs of concrete in geometric designs. There were three rectangular roofed areas under which were some picnic benches and tables and black, metal garbage bins. Misty spotted a few Rattata and Pidgey snooping around them obviously, looking for crumbs from picnickers.

"Hey, Misty, right? Since this isn't an official League battle, would it be okay with you if we deviated a bit from the League rules?"

"What do you mean?" Misty asked. The idea of working with different rules than she'd known her whole life was already making her instincts fire off with strategies on how to combat anything this girl threw at her.

"Just working with unofficial moves," Molly said as she took a PokéBall from the pocket of her black, baggy capris. They were almost like harem pants. "I've been training my Pokémon using unique techniques and I'd like to put them to use, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Misty replied. She'd just have to play this match extra carefully.

"Okay, great," called Molly. "If I've got that in my favor, then you should have something going for you too. So against my Hitmonchan," Molly released the humanoid fighter into the field, "I want you to use your Frillish, if that's alright."

Misty stopped short, looking at the girl questioningly. She was specifically requesting a Ghost against her pure Fighting Type. This girl was asking for a fight.

And a fight she was going to get.

"Fine. You're on. Frillish, go!"

With a flourish, Frillish was added to the battlefield, floating above the air. There was no water in sight on this field, not even a puddle, so Misty was going to have to make this match quick if she wanted Frillish at his best the whole time and not suffer from dehydration. Fortunately, against a fighter, Misty didn't see how that would be a problem.

"This is a one-on-one Battle, okay, Misty?"

"Got it. Now call your shot!"

"This is to show we mean business. Hitmonchan, Pursuit!"

That certainly wasn't an unconventional move. And Misty didn't need Frillish to be hit by a super-effective Attack straight out of the gate. But before Misty could even call out a counter-attack, Hitmonchan made contact, knocking Frillish to the concrete, roughing up its delicate skin.

"That was just to give us the advantage before the games really begin," Molly said smugly.

"Well, don't expect it to last long. Frillish, use Recover!"

Still on the ground, Frillish began to glow a bright white, its body levitating back into the air as the damage melted off of it, leaving it fresh and renewed like it had never been touched.

"Cool trick," Molly called. "But wait until you see mine. Hitmonchan, saut de chat!"

"So de what?" Misty muttered in confusion as Hitmonchan took off running. "Frillish, use Bubble to protect yourself!"

A barrier of bubbles appeared around Frillish, but Hitmonchan didn't slow down. Instead, once it got to be a few meters away from Frillish, it took off into the air, legs spread wide in a leap, and its purple foot connected with the side of Frillish's face as it burst through the wall of bubbles.

Misty gaped as she watched Hitmonchan not so much as falter, even upon impact and landed on the ground perfectly with another small leap, not stumbling in the least. That move had looked like some kind of a kick Attack which was not only unheard of for a Hitmon _chan_ , but also shouldn't have hit Frillish. But as Misty observed Hitmonchan, standing with its feet turned to the side and its arms perfectly curved in front of its purple skirt—almost like a pleated tutu—she had a shocking realization.

This Pokémon was a dancer. It would be able to fight her physically with immense strength without ever having to call upon a Fighting move.

Misty gulped. She knew she was in trouble.

Most wouldn't look at Misty's sisters and their lithe bodies and think that they were strong. But they had been dancing—and swimming—their whole lives and Misty could vouch for the fact that they had the strength of any football player in their lean muscles. And one look at Molly's bulging calf muscles and her turned out feet told her that that was exactly what Misty was up against.

Except with the added strength of being a Fighting Type Pokémon untethered to a Type disadvantage.

Best thing she could do was keep her distance. "Frillish, Water Pulse! Push that Hitmonchan away!"

"Brace yourself, Hitmonchan!"

Hitmonchan dug its heavy fists into the concrete, keeping it from being completely blown away by the concentrated burst of water.

"Great! Now chaînés into a barrel turn. And Agility!"

Misty watched with blurring eyes as Hitmonchan began to turn in tight circles, standing on its tiptoes all the while as its head kept turning rapidly towards Frillish until it seemed like its body was spinning like a top and its head was still.

"Ominous Wind, Frillish! Blow it back!"

"Use the resistance!"

At first, Hitmonchan's balance remained, leaving Misty shocked as even the tailwinds of the gust threatened to knock her over from her place on the sidelines. But eventually, Hitmonchan began to slow, hacking and gagging on the repulsive wind going into its surely burning lungs.

"Hmm, our little athlete can't breathe, can it?" Misty taunted. "Frillish, better give it some water, right?"

Abruptly, a powerful Hydro Pump erupted from Frillish's floating tendrils, four streams combining together into one huge blast of water towards the choking, but still turning Hitmonchan.

However, just as the Attack was about to hit, Hitmonchan leapt out of the turn, it's body arching over the blast like it was rolling over the arc of an enormous barrel.

This time, Hitmonchan's landing wasn't so graceful. It landed on the ground in a tight roll, but then landed flat on its back, still choking out the ghostly wind.

"Great; now Brine!"

Hitmonchan could only brace itself as a pile of water fell on it, like a bucket tipping over from the heavens.

"Hitmonchan, get up! Turn a pirouette and dry yourself off with Agility!"

With effort, Hitmonchan got up and prepared to turn, spinning rapidly around.

"Frillish, Wring Out while it's vulnerable!"

"Fouetté!"

Suddenly the leg that had been bent at the knee under Hitmonchan kicked out as Frillish approached, knocking it to the side with the force. Unfortunately, Hitmonchan was also knocked off-balance, spinning out and landing roughly on the ground.

"One more move and it's over, Frillish. Night Shade!"

Suddenly the bright pavilion fell dark to Misty's eyes. She could see nothing but shadow, but knew that in front of Hitmonchan were more frightening images than simply the darkness. While Hitmonchan fell victim to Night Shade, Misty smiled smugly, exchanging a look of confidence with Frillish.

"You know what to do."

Frillish nodded and floated up behind Hitmonchan while it stood shell-shocked in the darkness. Then, to the back of its head, Frillish fired a close-range Water Pulse, knocking Hitmonchan down, skidding face first on the hard concrete.

"Come on, Hitmonchan! Get up!" Molly cried desperately. Hitmonchan gave a few twitches, but ultimately stayed on the ground, unable to continue.

"Well, I guess that's it," Misty said, returning a worn Frillish to his 'Ball. "That was an incredibly unique match, Molly."

Molly sighed her response as she reluctantly returned her Hitmonchan, silently admitting defeat. Under her breath, she mumbled, "I just don't know where I went wrong. We've practiced so much."

"I think I know what the issue was," Misty said, drawing Molly's attention from the ground where Hitmonchan had been. "It's good to cover a Pokémon's weaknesses with unique strategies and moves, but you can't forget about a Pokémon's strength. It's your job as a Trainer to steer your Pokémon into using their strengths to every advantage that it can have. If you try to forget about it for the sake of working on something else, or something that may be _your_ strength, but not its, then your Pokémon will never reach its full potential. Understand?"

Molly nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess it was unfair of me to work so hard on training Hitmonchan's legs, never allowing its arms to shine."

"Maybe a little." Misty smiled kindly, hoping that Molly didn't feel too badly about losing. "Now if you could point me in the direction of the police station before you head back to the Pokémon Center?"

* * *

Molly showed Misty that the police station wasn't hard to find; it wasn't far at all from the Pokémon Center, either. Two goons at the front desk had tried to keep her from being able to talk to Officer Jenny but once they had realized that she was a Gym Leader they had become much more accommodating. She was now sitting across from Jenny in her office.

"Yes, it's very tragic," Jenny agreed with a previous statement Misty had made. "What do you want to know? Nothing is off-limits to you, as you are a government official. Anything in Kanto is under your jurisdiction, as I'm sure you know."

Misty sighed, knowing that she didn't likely want to know _any_ of this. But the truth was that she didn't know anything about the case. And she wasn't exactly itching to find Fay and Daniel again to learn more. So, she had no base knowledge. But she had to start somewhere.

"Just tell me about the kids. Do they have anything in common?"

It was usually a good place to start. If it turned out that these two were best friends who had been journeying together, then they might have simply fallen into trouble. But if there was nothing uniting them, that must have meant that they'd met after becoming ghosts.

"Very little," Jenny said as she thumbed through some files. "They're similar in age, Fay Edwards' fourteen to Daniel Kolle's twelve. And they were seen traveling in this town together. They challenged the Viridian Gym one after the other. And then they disappeared shortly after that."

"So they were traveling companions?" Misty grimaced a little bit as the words left her mouth. She hated when the past tense slipped out in these kinds of situations. She knew it was crazy, but it felt like she was giving herself away; that it was obvious she knew they were dead.

"Undetermined. If they were, it was recent. Edwards hails from Saffron City. It appears she was studying to be a psychic under the tutelage of the Saffron Gym before setting out. Kolle is from Pallet Town and was fairly new to traveling at the time."

Now time for Misty's least favorite part. "Have you considered the idea that they might have, you know, passed on?" Misty suggested, trying to pick her words as carefully and gently as possible.

Jenny was worrying her bottom lip in her teeth. When she would open her mouth to speak, it made it appear red and glossy in comparison to her upper lip. "Yes, of course I have considered it. But it's my job to stay positive and keep these open as missing persons cases until bodies are found."

"But you do think it's possible?" Misty pushed.

There was silence as Jenny looked down at the files fanned out before her. "At this point, yes, it's very possible. But these are two kids that we have no leads on. We just don't know."

"Oh, that reminds me," Misty butted in. "There was another poster in the Pokémon Center that was different from theirs? I think his name was Jeremy?"

Jenny looked off sadly. "Yes, that one was different. His was an accident in the woods a few months back. He was a very bright boy, smarter with Pokémon than most, if not all his age. But he was a special kid—not prepared to live on his own as a Trainer. His mother was so protective of him and wouldn't let him, even though anyone could see that it was all he wanted to do. It was the right choice, though, clearly, because the moment he went off on his own…well, you know."

"Wow. I'm so sorry." They were such empty words, but even with Misty's expansive experiences with death, they were all she could offer.

"Yes, well, don't be sorry for me," Jenny said wearily. "Be sorry for his mother. She has not handled it well."

Misty gave a little half-shrug. "Who would?"

"Fair," Jenny agreed. "She received his Pokémon, which usually helps with substituting the bond, but I don't suppose anything can be enough in a situation such as this."

Misty supposed that meant the Metapod and Venomoth the ghost of Jeremy had tried to show her earlier. She nearly shuddered at the memory. Perhaps it was insensitive, but she didn't understand how those Bugs could make _anyone_ feel better.

"So it's safe to say that he and the other two are unrelated," Misty said, returning to the matter at hand.

"Definitely," Jenny said. "They're months apart. Jeremy's case was solved long before Edwards and Kolle even arrived in town."

"Well, that doesn't make things easier," Misty mused.

"No, it doesn't," Jenny agreed. "There were similarities in their cases, though. All young Trainers who challenged the Viridian Gym, lost, went into the woods, and disappeared."

"The Gym seems to be the only thing that stands out in Edwards' and Kolle's story, correct?"

"Perhaps," Jenny answered, frustration at the fact evident in her voice. "We did jump to that conclusion what with Giovanni's checkered past. He's hardly a suspect, but we hoped that he'd perhaps have a shred of insight, since he was one of the last people to see them."

"Checkered past?"

Jenny leaned over, rifling through some drawers before coming up with an old picture in her hands. She handed it to Misty. The quality of the picture wasn't great, mostly because of what looked to be poor lighting. But there was a stone wall with indentations all around, interspersed with a few dim sconces.

"What's this?"

"That's the old interior of the Viridian Gym." Jenny pointed to one of the indentations. "That was the secret passageway to one of Team Rocket's bases during the war."

That was something Misty didn't remember from her minimal historical repertoire. Brock always had been the one interested in that stuff. She'd…usually tuned him out. "How was there a Team Rocket base at the Gym?"

"Because Giovanni was the head of Team Rocket."

"What‽"

Misty had known Giovanni ever since she was a little kid. And he'd never seemed like anything other than a nice—if somewhat frightening—man.

Jenny pulled out another photograph from the same drawer, this one showing a number of young people in matching black uniforms, all emblazed with a huge 'R' in the center. She handed it to Misty. Everyone had their arms behind their backs, presumably in cuffs, and were in front of the Viridian Gym—there was a sign on the door detailing such.

"How was he not stripped of his position?" Misty asked as she handed the photographs back.

"I don't know," Jenny admitted, shaking her head. "That's past the point of my expertise. Nevertheless, ever since the war, we're positive that he's been nothing more threatening than an intimidating Gym Leader."

Misty frowned. "That hardly seems like enough to keep him from being a suspect."

Jenny sighed. "No, the lack of evidence is enough. That and the fact that it sincerely seems like these two kids were merely involved in some accident. There's no reason for us to suspect foul play."

 _But there was_ , Misty remembered. They'd claimed that they weren't supposed to die. They'd told Ash that it had been a mistake. That could mean something as innocent as accidentally falling into a river and drowning, or it could mean another party had been involved.

That certainly would give them a reason for sticking around on this plane of existence. After all, how many demons could a fourteen and twelve-year-old have?

"I'm going to go to the Gym," Misty decided. "Just to see for myself."

"Please do," Jenny said, also standing. "The Gym's already closed for the day today, though. You'll have to go first thing tomorrow."

At that moment, Misty was caught completely off-guard by Pikachu materializing in Jenny's cramped office. He waved to her and started saying something, but Misty didn't bother to try to decipher it. She wouldn't have a clue.

"Oh, okay. I'll do that," Misty said as normally as she could manage, focusing on keeping her eyes on Officer Jenny's.

The room became considerably more cramped when Ash appeared shortly after, the words "You were right, Pikachu; she _is_ here," coming off his lips as soon as he spotted her. "Your Staryu is ready."

Misty only allowed her eyes to land on them for a couple of seconds before she stood up to signal the end of her conversation with Jenny. It had been as good as over anyway.

Jenny followed suit, standing tall and saluting Misty. "Consider yourself on the case."

Misty awkwardly mimed Jenny's gesture reflexively. "Thank you, Officer Jenny."

"No, thank you," Jenny returned.

Misty frowned as she turned around. She wanted to tell Jenny not to hold her breath and that thanks likely wouldn't be necessary. If the police couldn't find anything at the Gym then why did she think that she could? She was experienced with ghost behavior, _not_ criminal behavior.

Speaking of which—Misty spared another look at Ash as he followed her out the door—it seemed she wasn't quite finished with that for the day.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay...It's been a minute. I just started school again (for possibly the last time)! Senior in college, yo! It's crazy.

But we all know what the real exciting news is! Brock and Misty are returning to the anime for 2 episodes of Sun & Moon. If you haven't heard, get your butt on google and figure it out! If you have heard, please squeal about it with me in the comments or over PM! I'm freaking out! This is the best thing to happen to me since the fanfiction _Phantom_ was updated over 4 years ago! (I have a sad life.)

Much love to C'sMelody, whose reward for helping me will be a video of my roommate's new cat instead of virtual cookies. I said nothing mean this time, girl! You're welcome!


	12. The War

.

 **The War**

" _An_ _idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself_."

–Charles Dickens

* * *

Fortunately, as that girl, Molly, had first shown her, the police station wasn't far from the Pokémon Center. So Misty hadn't needed to ignore Ash for long before the clean air of the Pokémon Center poured over her, canceling out the various smells of food and garbage from the city streets. With record speed, she'd managed to retrieve Staryu—and a room key—while dropping off Frillish in its place.

"Alright, new ground rule," Misty hissed once the door clicked shut behind her. She grabbed Ash by the ear and yanked him further into the Pokémon Center room, careless of whether she hurled Pikachu as well. She had a bone to pick with the both of them.

"What's that?" Ash asked, rubbing his ear whilst looking quite clueless.

"No talking to me in front of other people unless it's an emergency. I'm trying to appear normal, which is much harder to do when I have an apparition talking to me. Got it?"

"Pika chu," Pikachu stated with his ears flopped against his cheeks, looking properly chastised.

Misty tossed Pikachu a magnanimous smile that lasted only until she turned to Ash.

"Oh, I guess I hadn't realized that would be a problem," Ash said sheepishly. "Er, sorry about that."

Misty continued to eye him for a moment before giving a slight nod. "…It's okay."

Then it was dropping her bag on the bottom mattress of a plain, wooden bunk bed, sitting down, and reaching back to massage the base of her neck. She winced at the bruising on her shoulder blades from the fighting she'd done on her back two days prior. At least her head wasn't giving her too much trouble. Though it was definitely a good idea to turn in early.

Misty's impulse was to get up and get ready to take a shower—she was sure that she still had specks of dirt on her from being beaten into it. It would be nice to get that fight off of her once and for all. And perhaps it would sooth her body as well. However…

Ash and Pikachu were still floating right there, looking as though they were naughty students waiting to be dismissed. Misty was preparing to do just that when Daisy's words came echoing annoyingly in her mind. She desperately looked to the clock on the wall, hoping it would tell her it was too late for those games. But, to her dismay, it was still early in the evening. If she did manage to go to sleep, she'd probably wake up ungodly early, and that would do her no good.

She was out of excuses.

"Maybe we both need practice at this."

The admission came with no eye contact. In fact, Misty was looking straight at the shuttered blinds covering the room's single window. Her hands had made it up to her hair, pulling out her ponytail as though she were getting ready for the shower she'd postponed.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

Misty shifted her body towards him, but still looked at the floor, brushing through her stiff, chlorine-damaged hair with her fingers. "I'm not the best at, erhm, talking to people either. I mean, I know I'm clearly the only person _you_ can practice with, but maybe…"

Ash was staring at her and one glance up told her that he was not grasping what she was saying.

"Ugh, let's just talk!" Misty finally exclaimed on a groan.

"Oh," Ash said, looking as though the idea hadn't at all crossed his mind. "Uh, sure!"

Misty was still sitting squarely on the bed, hunched over so she wouldn't hit her head on the upper bunk, and fiddling with her hair tie. Ash shifted over to her and awkwardly scuffed the ground with the toe of his shoe. Well, he was really just scuffing air.

It was becoming abundantly clear that Misty was going to have to take the first step.

Daisy's advice had been to ask him about himself. Misty was groaning internally now, wishing she'd asked her sister to expound upon that. She hardly knew enough about Ash to know where to start. Misty glanced at Pikachu who was looking between the two of them, almost looking amused at their awkwardness. She narrowed her eyes at the little rodent, a hint of a smile pulling on her face.

"You said that you had never met anyone like me," Misty said, while still looking at Pikachu. She heard Ash give a little grunt of agreement. "Well, I've never met anyone like Pikachu before."

"You haven't?" Ash asked, suddenly more interested. Misty quickly remembered that Ash seemed to be more at ease when Pokémon were being discussed.

Misty shook her head. "Nope. He's a first. You guys must have been pretty close."

Pikachu scampered over to Ash, who instinctively scratched his head. "He was my first Pokémon."

That wasn't much of a surprise. Trainers almost always had an exceptionally strong bond with their starters.

"There's nothing quite like getting your first Pokémon," Misty said. "Staryu was mine."

"Really? Not Noir?"

Misty almost laughed. "No, Noir isn't my Pokémon. I've never captured her. Although we did meet about the same time that my mom gave me Staryu."

"Oh, I thought you just let her roam outside her PokéBall," Ash said, looking a little sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That's what I did with Pikachu."

"Is that how you ended up dying together?"

The words came out quicker than Misty could control and she instantly wished she had the power to turn back time and take them back. The openness—almost eagerness—that had appeared on Ash's face as they were talking about Pokémon closed off immediately.

"I'm—I'm sorry," Misty babbled, trying to bring Ash's eyes back out from under his hat, where they had disappeared.

"No, it's okay," he said, though his voice sounded clipped. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Oh."

Misty wasn't sure what more to say. Ash was still facing her, but his eyes were at the ground and Pikachu was crouched on his shoulder, trying to catch his eyes. Misty would have been afraid of Pikachu falling off if she didn't know that gravity wasn't a concern for either of them.

"Um, was it bad?"

She could have kicked herself. If that wasn't a stupid question, what was? Ash couldn't have been more than a teenager when he'd died—what kind of a child has anything other than a horrifying death?

Nevertheless, Ash nodded his head. "It was in the battle," he mumbled.

Now Misty was just confused. "In a Pokémon Battle?"

"No." Ash shook his head. "During the war."

There were beats of pounding silence as the words left Ash and landed on Misty with their full weight.

"Oh," Misty said again, words continuing to fail her. "I'm so sorry. Really, I…I shouldn't have asked."

"No, no, it's okay," Ash said hurriedly, looking up and trying to look at all happy. "I just, um, don't feel like talking about it, if that's okay."

"Of course!"

They both looked at each other, eyes wide, lips pursed, both failing in their attempts to seem nonchalant. The air now felt more awkward than it had before they started talking. Even Pikachu was affected this time.

"Um, so I have to go to the Viridian Gym tomorrow morning…" Misty began slowly, after many minutes of wracking her brain for a safe subject to land on. "Would you want to come?"

To her surprise, Ash's eyes did manage to brighten—and it didn't even seem like he was faking it for her benefit—and he said, "Sure! Gyms are always fun."

Misty nodded, internally letting out a gust of relief. "Okay. Well, I'm going to get ready for bed, so I'll see you then."

She grabbed her brush from her bag and headed to the adjoining bathroom, hoping that it was safe to assume that he and Pikachu would be gone by the time she stepped out.

And she hoped Daisy was freaking happy.

* * *

When Misty stepped out of the bathroom, she clutched her towel close to her body, in case her two ghost boys were still hanging around. To her luck, though, they seemed to have left for the evening. So, exhausted as she was, she quickly finished her nighttime routine and lay down to sleep.

But sleep didn't come.

It wasn't even nine o'clock, but she knew that it wasn't the early hour that was keeping her awake. She'd always slept on an odd schedule anyhow. Basically, if she was tired, she could sleep. And she was certainly tired. So it wasn't that.

It was her conversation with Ash. Not only was she feeling guilty over how she'd handled it, but it was the information itself. Ash had died in the war.

And now, despite herself, her mind was swimming with questions. It felt sick to have a curiosity about the way he'd died—a war that families were still grieving from—but she wanted to know. She wanted to know how a person like Ash, who seemed almost too innocent to have ever been in a war, could have ended up there.

Unfortunately, Misty wasn't well-versed in Kanto's not-so-distant history. But she knew someone who would be plenty eager to tell her all he knew.

Misty glanced at the clock again, despite already knowing that it was still a couple hours until curfew. And right on the other side of her wall, there happened to be a row video phones lined up. And in her bag, she had the phone number that Forrest had given her earlier that day.

Without another thought, Misty twisted out of her blankets and rolled out of bed, rifling through her bag for the number and then grabbing the key to the room before she padded into the hallway.

Not too surprisingly, all the videophones were free, so Misty just chose the nearest one and began typing in the unfamiliar number. Fortunately she knew that it wasn't as late in Johto as it was in Kanto, but still late enough that Brock was bound to be out of class.

It only took a few rings for him to prove her right.

"Hello? This is Brock Slate, doctor in training!"

"Oh, Brock, that's the lamest thing I've ever heard. You've gotta lose that greeting."

The screen instantly flickered on and Misty saw Brock looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't think it'd be a turn on for the ladies."

"Certainly wasn't for me," Misty said dryly.

Brock shook off the quasi-rejection in stride and looked at Misty fondly. "So. You really survived the Viridian Forest?"

"Glad to hear your confidence in me, Brock," Misty joked, a laugh lilting her voice. "I survived and now I want to talk to you about something."

"What's that?"

"The War. I know that you're a Civil War buff and I want to know what really happened, what it was really about, and what it must have been like for people in it."

Brock was obviously caught off-guard, leaving nothing but the buzz of a long-distance connection for a couple of seconds. "Well, I'm not sure about that last one, but I'll do the best that I can. Why the sudden interest, though?"

Misty wanted to beat around the bush because the truth sounded crazy. But her truth always sounded crazy and Brock was the only person to whom she could tell it. So, might as well dive in head first. "Because I met a ghost that died in it and I want to understand what he went through."

"Hmm," Brock hummed as though scrutinizing her—Misty just couldn't tell which part of her he was thinking about. "Well, why don't you just ask him?"

"I, uh, did," Misty admitted. "Inadvertently. And he kind of clammed up. So I wanted to just figure it out on my own."

"So basically," Brock surmised, "you're nosing into business that you're probably not supposed to."

"Well, sure, that too."

"Well, you're in luck that I'm prepared to just let that one slide," Brock said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Because I like imparting my wisdom, even if it's for a questionable cause."

"Good to know I'm a questionable cause," Misty said wryly.

"Good. So the Civil War, like any other war, is tough because perspectives twist what happened to make one guy sound like the bad guy and one guy sound like the good guy," Brock began, eagerness filling his voice. "In this case, neither claim is true. Neither side was bad. Prior to the war, Kanto was in a progressive era, becoming very urban, technology-based, and basically moving with the times and flourishing financially because of that. Johto was very traditional and suffering fiscally because most other regions were growing similarly to Kanto. Kanto, as you know, had Indigo as its singular, oligarchic form of government. Johto, however, was a little more broken up, and this is also part of the reason why the region was suffering. Indigo was a dual government for both Kanto and Johto, but Johto also had an independent legislative branch centered in Goldenrod City. The League in Indigo decided that Kanto should annex Johto, make The League the sole form of government in Johto, and thusly benefit them both."

"And Johto wasn't a fan of that idea." Misty completed, piecing together bits of what Brock was saying with what little she already knew.

"To say the least. Johtan rebels started the war with a surprise attack on Indigo that didn't go well for either party. Indigo managed to push the war out of the main city and into the rural western edge of Kanto, off the fringes of Pewter, Viridian, and Pallet, trying to force it south to contain the war with minimal damage to Kanto's important cities. Even though it was a Johtan civil war more than anything, the war took place in Kanto, definitely damaging those three cities.

"Neither region was prepared for war and had to start a draft—mostly Kanto, though, because Johto had a number of eager rebels, while Kanto didn't see it as their fight. Lots of young men were brought into the war that way, perhaps like your ghost?"

"That's what it's starting to sound like," Misty mused. "Anyway, Kanto won, and…?"

"Well, Kanto just had better resources. Plus, it was on their turf and everyone from Johto had to cross a whole mountain range or sail south of the continent to get there, which was a huge disadvantage just regarding supplies and preparation. Kanto won, annexed Johto, and since has been a pretty generous ruler, I think. The League is perfectly split between Johtan and Kantonian representatives, save for the Champion, of course, and Johto is now thriving almost as much as Kanto, despite both being brought many steps backwards because of The War. Goldenrod is now the lovechild of Kanto and Johto, bringing industry to Johto. All is well save for bitter feelings and a lost generation of boys who died at war."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Aw, you just make the story burst with sunshine and sparkles, don't you?"

"It was a war, Misty," Brock deadpanned. "Hard to make it sound like _My Little Ponyta_."

"I know, I know," Misty waved him off. "Thanks for the history lesson. Now, is there any chance that you know anything about what things must have been like for the draftees? Assuming that's what Ash was."

"Ah, so Ash is his name. Noted," Brock confirmed. "And I don't know, Misty, I can speculate for you, but that's really something you'd have to hear from the Horsea's mouth."

"Speculate away," Misty insisted.

Brock sighed. "Alright, well, I can only assume that it must have been terrible. War is always awful, but being forced into one is even worse. And the draft went as young as fifteen as it went on, so some of these boys were younger than us. It was probably worse as it went later, because Kantonians were quick to start hating the war, especially those further east and more detached. Frontiersmen on the west, though, seemed more, I don't know, patriotic. They had more cause in all of it. I don't know, Misty, every person is different. There's no way to know for sure how this Ash felt about all of it. But it probably wasn't great, otherwise he would probably tell you."

Misty nodded. "I guess you're right. Thanks for your help."

"Thanks for checking in and telling me you got to Viridian okay. Even if it was only because you needed something from me."

Misty grinned. "What are friends for?"

"Apparently acting as a sentient history textbook."

"Yes, but a very appreciated sentient history textbook," Misty jested, laughing at the image of Brock as a walking, talking book.

"Okay, Misty. You should probably be going to sleep soon. Isn't it late there?"

"Yeah," Misty agreed, finally assessing how tired she really was. "You have no idea what I've been through to get here."

"Really? Do tell."

"I thought you wanted me to go to sleep?"

"Story time helps with sleep.

Misty laughed. "Okay. Well, there were these two ghosts…"

* * *

Giovanni's Gym was far different from Misty's. The Cerulean Gym was lit like an aquarium through and through, whether the room in question housed any aquatic creatures or not. But the Viridian Gym's inside was somewhat dark and dank, like an unpleasant hybrid between a house and a cave. Misty had had to push aside a heavy door to come in, which was now blocking all of the morning's bright rays from the windowless room. The only light now came from sconces evenly spaced along the dark wall. It was very similar to the picture that Jenny had showed her the day before, only now there were no indents hiding a secret passageway to a gang hideout.

It was cold too, making Misty grateful that she had slipped on a sweater—partially to hide her almost healed bruises, but also to protect her against the cool morning air. Now she was rubbing the wool against her arms to fight her newly acquired goosebumps.

Also, unlike what was frequently the case at her Gym, there was a man working the front desk. She was about to ask him about Giovanni's whereabouts—get right down to business—but he spoke up first. "There is only one challenger allowed in the Viridian Gym at one time. We already have one scheduled for a few minutes from now, so you'll have to return afterwards."

Misty, who had stepped up to the front desk as the man spoke at her, smiled as passively as she could and replied, "I'm actually not a challenger. I came here to speak to Giovanni."

"On what grounds?"

"Official police business," Misty stated, taking care to stretch her posture and look as authoritative as possible. However, that did not keep the man from giving her a good once over and frowning skeptically.

"You?"

"Yes, me. I happen to be," she swept her bag off her shoulder and fished around in the bottom of it, "the Cerulean Gym Leader," she finished, presenting a Cascade Badge for him to see.

"Oh, you must be, uh, Misty, eh?" the man surmised, recognition sparkling faintly behind his deep-set eyes.

"That's right," Misty answered, dropping the Badge back into her bag.

"Okay. You have a few minutes to talk to him, but as soon as the scheduled challenger appears, you'll have to step aside, got it?"

"Got it."

The front desk registrar pointed Misty to the main arena, where he stated Giovanni would be.

Even without it being pointed out, it was pretty easy to tell which was the way to the arena. From this main lobby, there was one door off to the side, but just past the registrar desk was a formidable pair of iron double doors, mirroring the ones Misty knew to lead back to the sunshine of the outside world. Misty had to throw her weight onto one for it to creak open, the sound casting a deep echo through what opened up to be a huge arena.

Misty nearly gaped in awe. Even arenas at the League weren't this wide. It had to be at least thrice the size of her pool, with towering platforms for the trainers to stand at on each end. The reason why became evident as Misty soon cast her eyes on three enormous Pokémon. A Kangaskhan, a Rhydon, and a Nidoqueen, all larger than she'd ever seen them.

As Misty began the far walk across the dusty field, she saw a man—Giovanni, she had to presume, though it was hard to tell from the distance—kneeling by the Nidoqueen's side, and scraping what appeared to be a toothbrush up her back. As Giovanni moved up her back, he pushed himself up to standing, leaving Misty floundering at how large these Pokémon really were.

Nidoqueen were rarely larger than five feet, making them small but dense tanks. But this one was easily taller than Giovanni by a few inches; and Misty knew from experience that Giovanni, the imposing figure that he was, was about six feet. Then there were the Kangaskhan and the Rhydon. The Rhydon was a bit taller than the Nidoqueen, the various protrusions sticking out of its head adding a few inches. But the Kangaskhan was without a doubt over seven feet.

Misty knew that these Pokémon probably weren't very fast; she couldn't imagine they'd roam the whole field in one match, but she would bet that the field didn't look big to them at all. This was a small field in comparison to the open plains these Pokémon inhabited in the wild.

When she finally made her way over to the three behemoths, Giovanni was getting up and dusting the fine dirt off of his well-worn slacks.

"Miss Waterflower," Giovanni stated, sticking out his hand to shake after brushing off all of the excess dust that he could. "A pleasure. What are you doing in my neck of the woods?"

"The pleasure's all mine, sir," Misty said, imitating Giovanni's clipped manner of speaking as she met his hand for a firm shake. "I'm actually here to speak with you about the current missing persons cases in Viridian."

Had Giovanni been a teenager, Misty knew that she would have seen a sassy eye-roll accompanied by an exasperated sigh. But Giovanni, a man in his fifties, simply let out a heavy breath, the wind seemingly having been taking out of his sails. "I am not involved," he said, the words sounded heavy with use, like they've made this a common phrase in his vocabulary. "And, frankly, Miss Waterflower, I don't know why you are."

"I became involved involuntarily and now I'm on the case. I don't believe that you are involved, but you must know that this is the only lead that Jenny currently has."

"I realize that," Giovanni huffed. "But that must mean that I'm being framed or that the Gym is being involved from the outside, because it's been decades since any criminal activity has been _inside_ this Gym."

"Perhaps," Misty agreed. "But you won't mind if I ask a few questions anyway, do you?"

Giovanni shook his head. "Fire away."

"Have you noticed anything strange about your challengers in the past month or so?"

"No."

Misty faltered. "Could you explain that a little further?"

Giovanni stared at her. The lines and the scars on his face, his dark, dark eyes, and his buzzed-short hair made him very intimidating. No wonder he had been so feared in his youth. Fortunately, she had seen him smile on occasion, so she knew that he could also fall into the look of a father or even grandfather, but that certainly wasn't what he looked like in this moment.

"You're a Gym Leader. You know the routine," Giovanni stated assuredly as he stared her down. "Some Trainers are good, some are bad, you win some, you lose some. You mostly win because otherwise you wouldn't have a job and some kids take that better than others. That's it. I don't make friends with my challengers, and I'm sure neither do you."

Misty frowned. He was definitely right about that. "Sure. Have you had any new employees in the past two months or so?"

"None."

"Have you had just as many challengers as usual?"

"Same as usual for the off-season."

Now that piqued Misty's interest. Numbers for her own Gym were lower than she'd seen them as long as she'd been Gym Leader, and Brock had said pretty much the same. So why weren't Giovanni's? Surely his Gym wasn't more popular than hers or Brock's.

Before she could ask him to specify those number so that she could draw a closer comparison, all three of Giovanni's Pokémon turned towards the door through which Misty had come.

"Challenger coming, Miss Waterflower. You'll have to save the rest of your questions until after the match. You're free to watch."

Giovanni turned away from Misty without waiting for a reply or even to see if she was staying or not. He headed right up to his platform and took his stance, legs wide, arms crossed. Powerful.

Misty turned towards the door in time to hear the echo of the loud creak it gave as the challenger pushed it open. Giovanni's Pokémon must have heard him or her from the other room. She didn't know how that could be possible through the heavy iron doors, but Giovanni's Pokémon seemed as though they were capable of anything.

The challenger appeared as a speck in the distance to Misty as they approached the platform opposite Giovanni's. Misty retreated to the side bleachers, noticing how large Giovanni's Pokémon still appeared, even from her now considerable distance away from them. He had left them all out on the stadium floor, probably to intimidate challengers.

"Three on three, no substitutions," Giovanni boomed. Misty looked up and noticed that the ceiling had irregular paneling. She wondered if that was just so that sound carried without microphones in the enormous room. Hopefully hearing wouldn't be an added disablement for the challenger's Pokémon in this room. Challengers would have to catch on quick that they need to speak up for their Pokémon to hear any kind of command.

"Sure thing!" Misty heard echoing in a feminine voice from across the room. "Hitmonlee, go!"

Despite the echo, the voice sounded familiar in Misty's head. Also, a Hitmonlee was interesting. Not a particularly common Pokémon. Misty squinted towards the challenger, trying to make out details. She couldn't see much, but she did see a long red braid swinging at the girl's side.

Misty grinned. It was Molly! Suddenly, the match was a lot more exciting. She quickly dropped her questions toward Giovanni. They were only her own curiosity talking. Those questions weren't about the case, and frankly, she didn't have any more about the case. So she didn't bother trying to split her focus.

Giovanni sent forward his Rhydon. It was weak against Fighting, so that was good for Molly. Hopefully she'd bear in mind the advice Misty had given her yesterday and steer into that skid. And while this Rhydon was assuredly stalwart to say the least, Misty knew she could count on a Pokémon of Molly's to be quick. With any luck, that would be enough to keep from being absolutely mowed down by this tank of a Pokémon.

"Hi Jump Kick!"

Misty cringed. That was a daring call. If it missed, Misty doubted that Molly would be able to recover in this round. And there was so much distance to cover before the Attack would hit that Giovanni's Rhydon would have to time to dodge.

Nevertheless, Molly's Hitmonlee charged forward before soaring through the air and ultimately making contact on the Rhydon's shoulder. It threw the Rhydon off-balance, but as it dug its feet into the ground, Misty knew that it wasn't going anywhere.

Misty waited for Giovanni to call out a command, but he didn't. He stood like a statue, his face neutral as only his eyes followed the match. Apparently he didn't have to call out a move, though, because as the Hitmonlee rebounded off of it, the Rhydon grabbed the Hitmonlee by its leg and threw it back into the air.

Misty's jaw dropped. That was almost vicious. Not out of line by any means, but it made it very clear that there was no fooling around in this Gym.

"Shift your weight! Land in plié and recover!"

Somehow the Hitmonlee unfolded itself and managed to land gracefully, not appearing to have taken any damage from the hit as it straightened its knees and stood tall.

Misty was very impressed. Most Fighting Pokémon were hopeless even an inch off of the ground. The floor on which they fought was as much a part of their game as their fists were. But Molly's were so trained in leaps and jumps that they showed a familiarity with how their bodies handled in the air that it only enhanced their skill.

"Great! Now Close Combat!"

The Hitmonlee again approached Giovanni's Rhydon. Both Pokémon and Trainer looked almost disinterested, even as the Hitmonlee began striking the Rhydon in rapid succession. When an opening appeared, the Rhydon grabbed the Hitmonlee's leg and again tossed it, repeating the cycle.

Both Pokémon had to be taking damage. Fighting moves were super-effective against a Rock-Type like Rhydon, but its bulk and its tough, plated skin were doing it well. And Molly's Hitmonlee seemed to be tiring itself out more than anything else.

Misty eyed Giovanni suspiciously. He wasn't doing anything. And his Pokémon was _barely_ doing anything. What did that say about him? That his Pokémon were so well-trained outside of Battle that his work was done once a Battle commenced? Or that he had no Battle-skill at all and just left it up to his Pokémon to throw his weight around?

Something about it made Misty mad. She put so much work and strategy into every Battle—even ones against hopeless youngsters, just to keep it fair and interesting—but Giovanni wasn't lifting a finger. That wasn't how a Gym Leader was supposed to act.

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing, evidently," Misty replied to Ash's now familiarly throaty voice reflexively. She only took her eyes off the Battle for a second to see him sitting next to her with Pikachu on his shoulder. "When did you get here?"

"Oh, I just floated in a moment ago," Ash said, pointing up. "Sorry I'm late. Where's Noir?"

"She doesn't like cities," Misty answered plainly. "Whenever I have to travel for conferences or the League she usually lays low unless I'm definitely alone."

Ash nodded. "So where are we?" he asked, pointing to the Battle at hand.

"The match is three on three, this is the first round."

"Great! We didn't miss much."

Round one was winding down, though. As Misty turned her attention back to the match, she noticed that Molly's Hitmonlee was right on the brink of falling. The Rhydon still looked tough as nails.

"Wow, we're looking at a real level difference here," Ash said.

"Guess so."

"Rhyhorn hasn't moved from that spot for the whole match, has he?"

Misty looked over at Ash questioningly. "No. How did you know that? And how do you know it's male?"

Ash pointed to the field. "The ground around his feet isn't scattered hardly at all, so I guessed. Also, based on how close he is to the side of the field and the fact that he's not moving now. And he's obviously a boy from the length of his horn."

"Oh."

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu watched as the Rhydon used what appeared to be one hell of a Stomp Attack, knocking the Hitmonlee to the floor once and for all. Misty frowned. She could only guess that it was a Stomp because, yet again, Giovanni hadn't called out the move.

"Stupid," Misty mumbled under her breath as she watched Molly return her Hitmonlee back to its ball.

"What is?"

"Giovanni didn't do a damn thing during that match," Misty exclaimed. "What kind of a Trainer does that?"

"Well, Giovanni's always been the strong and silent type," Ash explained. "If you can even see him at all. He sticks to the background."

"Have you been watching his Gym for a while?" Misty asked. If he had been watching Brock's and even hers back in the day, maybe he'd been watching the Viridian Gym ever since it was young.

"Uh, sure," Ash said, not taking his eyes off of the Battle.

He was lying. Misty was sure of it. She had already started to learn that Ash was just one of the worst liars that she had ever met, and so she had not a doubt in her mind that there was something that he wasn't saying.

But, she had also learned last night that that was the way she had to keep things with him, so she sighed and turned back to the field, watching a Battle between a Machoke—Molly's—and Giovanni's Kangaskhan commence.

This was good. This gave Molly another Type-advantage. Unfortunately, this Kangaskhan looked just as unshakable as the Rhydon, maybe even more so with its extra foot of stature, but a Machoke was strong and sturdy too, so Misty was hopeful.

Again, Molly fired away with the first shot, throwing a fist forward, which Kangaskhan grabbed, again without command from Giovanni.

Misty couldn't help but groan.

"It's an intimidation technique," Ash said quietly. "It freaks out your opponent to see a Trainer that sure and powerful. It also shows a connection between Trainer and Pokémon that is very hard to achieve. Takes years. A Trainer may not know that, but they can feel it, and that rattles them. Giovanni and his Pokémon have been together for decades. They're perfectly in sync. Giovanni would help them if they needed it, but they don't. They already know."

"Then he should be switching out his Pokémon and Training new ones," Misty argued, turning to Ash. He was still looking at the match, though; he had been the whole time. "That way younger Trainers have a chance and you're improving as a Trainer."

"Some people like to switch out," Ash agreed with a nod. "But others invest in a few bonds and that's it for them."

Misty's shoulders slumped. She couldn't argue with that, much as she wanted to. But she could practically hear Ash follow up his statement with: _surely you know what that feels like_? And she did. Her bonds with Noir and even Staryu made for much smoother, but also _deeper_ battling than using a green Pokémon. But she just didn't see that as the only point of being a Gym Leader.

"Oh, look at that," Ash said just as Molly's Machoke landed a swift kick to Kangaskhan's soft under belly. "That was a smart move, hitting below the pouch. One might think that a Kangaskhan's weakest point is right around the baby, but that's not true. If an opponent goes for anywhere around the pouch, Kangaskhan's motherly instincts kick in and make it attack relentlessly. That's probably why Giovanni battles with the baby still in the pouch; to keep that strength, dangerous strategy though it is."

Wow. If Ash were alive, he would make a fortune on commentating on matches. Misty felt this acute focus in her head, like she felt all of the Pokémon knowledge Ash was imparting on her going into her brain and making her a better Trainer. She hoped that it was.

Molly seemed to realize on her own what Ash had just explained to Misty and sent a barrage of Attacks on the Kangaskhan's middle, avoiding the baby Kangaskhan.

And that was that.

The Kangaskhan fell, and Molly's Machoke fell soon after, the exertion obviously having been too much for it to handle.

As the Trainers sent out their last Pokémon, Hitmonchan and Nidoqueen, Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder and padded over to Misty's lap, mewling as he snuggled into her. Misty laughed a little, enjoying scratching the spots that she had already discovered to be favorites of Pikachu's. She was glad then that the arena was so huge. There was no way that Giovanni or Molly would be able to see that she was petting what would appear to them to be nothing if they, for some reason, looked away from the match and at her.

Throwing this Battle off from the pattern of the prior two, it started with the Nidoqueen charging with all her might towards the Hitmonchan, knocking it to the ground with a harsh Take Down Attack.

"Ooh, that was a good strategy," Misty couldn't help but saying, ignoring the fact that it had—predictably—gone without order from Giovanni. It must have been a token strategy of theirs. Maybe the reason why Giovanni left all of his Pokémon out for the duration of the Battle was so that they could watch along with him and know better what to do when it was their turn. Misty didn't know if that was an admirable strategy or if that was on the verge of cheating.

The Battle didn't last long. To Molly's credit, Misty did notice slight differences from the way she was commanding her Hitmonchan from yesterday. She was indeed employing its arms more. It was just a shame that Nidoqueen had such thick hides; the punches were being all but absorbed upon impact.

An Ice Beam sealed the deal. Covered in ice, Molly's Hitmonchan fell to the ground with a dull thud, dirt from the field sticking to it before turning to mud.

"That's that. Really awesome match," Ash said, an excited look in his eyes that Misty hadn't seen before. "Those dance-y things were super cool. Maybe you should learn something like that, Pikachu."

Pikachu bristled, clearly not fond of the idea of training in a tutu and began sparking at the cheek.

"Alright, you can have him back now," Misty said, handing Pikachu off to Ash.

"No, I really don't want—"

Misty scooted away before the shock hit, though that didn't keep her from wincing and blocking her face anyway. She quickly looked back to the field to make sure that Giovanni and Molly hadn't seen the rogue electricity, but they were too busy with thawing Molly's Hitmonchan, a task easily accomplished via use of Giovanni's Rhydon's drill.

"See ya later, Mist," Ash said as he and Pikachu continued to playfully roughhouse, floating up and eventually through the ceiling all the while.

Not even getting the chance to say goodbye, Misty started stepping down from the bleachers with a curious smile. No one had ever called her that before.

Mist.

* * *

 **A/N** : Okay, it has been almost two months. I'm very sorry about that. But senior year of college is very difficult. But for right now, I'm just happy to have finally buckled down and updated this story! I'm not going to say much else except for _Happy Halloween_! I'm dressing as an Umbreon. :)

Oh, and many thanks to my lovely beta, C'sMelody for not taking this rough draft and chucking it back at me shouting: "Read your own work and see if it makes any sense before you send it to someone else, dingus!" Which is what I deserved for this one.


	13. Wet and Burned

.

 **Wet and Burned**

" _Twist like fell ghosts that fear the light_."

–Lewis Morris

* * *

"I just don't know why that match was such a total shutout," Molly moaned. "I tried really hard to change my strategy and do what you told me."

Misty nodded along as the pair walked south along the path to Pallet Town. After the match, Misty had approached Giovanni and Molly, the latter of whom had been very excited to see her, showing a bounce back after her defeat that she was no longer exemplifying. Giovanni had turned pointedly to Misty and asked if she had anything else to say. Molly had cocked her head in confusion, but neither party looked at her.

Her answer had been "no" for two reasons. One, as predicted, she hadn't thought of any more questions during the match. She had been distracted both by the Battle and by Ash and Pikachu. Two, what was she supposed to say while Molly was there?

Molly had surprised her when, after leaving Giovanni's intimidating gaze, she'd asked to travel along with Misty. It hardly seemed reasonable to Misty; Misty was traveling to Pallet and there wasn't a Gym there. Plus, Pewter was in the opposite direction, and Pewter provided for Molly a Gym with a type disadvantage and—as Misty knew—a brand-spanking new Gym Leader. Forrest was good, but he was young and had very little experience. Misty knew—as she'd been in the same position just a few years ago—that he was bound to suffer more losses than wins.

But Molly had insisted. She had said the Gyms could wait and when was the next time she'd have an opportunity to travel and learn from a real Gym Leader?

And, well, how could Misty say no to that?

"You can't expect a new strategy to work immediately," Misty explained as she pulled her pink sweater closer around her body. "You have to hone it until it becomes _your_ strategy and not just _a_ strategy."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You did show improvement, though," Misty added when she noticed Molly's downtrodden expression.

"Thanks," Molly mumbled, either in bashfulness or reluctance to agree. Either way, Misty didn't know what more to say, so she left it there.

It was strange to have a human traveling companion. A new—dare she say it—friend to learn about and converse with. Ash, who Misty had not seen since that morning, had been a new traveling companion—human, albeit dead—and a new experience, but he was still in the niche of characters with whom she found herself most communicating: ghosts.

But Molly was something else. She was bold and playful and very much _alive_. In every sense of the word. She had few inhibitions around people and was in no way withdrawn the way Misty was. It was a breath of fresh air, but also kind of intimidating.

Fortunately, Misty felt that Molly had no sense of her unease. They'd already been walking for a couple of hours—in addition to the time that had been spent collecting their things from the Pokémon Center. And yet, in all that time, Noir had been nowhere to be found. Clearly she was irked that another human had inserted herself into Misty's life.

"Hey, you know, I think there's a big lake up ahead and to the east," Molly said. "Maybe we can go and hang out there…Maybe train a little so that I can, you know, adopt your wisdom before trying to challenge my next Gym?"

Misty brightened. A lake! That sounded amazing. Her Pokémon hadn't gotten any real exercise since she had left the Gym; she would bet that Gyarados was a scary kind of angry right now because of that.

"Sure!" Misty chirped, already turning her feet towards the east. "I'm not in any hurry."

* * *

The lake was beautiful. Misty had always gone to beaches when she was younger, but she'd rarely experienced the majesty of a sparkling lake. She had the one in Cerulean Cave, but that was a whole different experience. This wasn't spooky or dangerous; it was just nature at its best. It didn't seem actually to be a lake, though. This was just the calm, rocky edge of what appeared to be a river or a stream.

Misty couldn't resist. As soon as they got within spitting distance of the lake, she tossed her three PokéBalls in the air. All three Pokémon materialized in the water, Frillish and Gyarados immediately diving underneath its depths as Staryu bobbed along the surface.

"Wow, the water must be really deep," Misty mused, noting that there wasn't so much as a ripple in the direction in which Gyarados had swum into the water. She couldn't see deeper than that because the bright light of day was casting its smooth reflection upon the entire breadth of the water.

"Oh yeah," Molly agreed. "This is only the edge of the lake because of this rocky stuff. Not because it's, like, tapering off or anything."

Misty kicked off her shoes without a thought, ripped off her socks, and moved to sit along a flat piece of rock to dangle her feet in the water.

"What are you doing?" Molly asked, stopping Misty in her tracks. "This water has got to be freezing. People won't be swimming in this lake for months, trust me."

"Trust _me_ ," Misty said as she thrust her toes in the water. "I can take any kind of water."

Molly was right, the water was cold. Freezing cold. Winter had only just begun to take its breath out of the spring air—which still was enough to keep Misty pulling her sweater tight—so of course the water was like an ice bath. Fortunately, Misty had taken many an ice bath for her legs in her day, so the water felt nice and relaxing, making time seem to slow down the way her blood did.

"Okay, training," Misty began as she laid her back along the hard rock. "There's so many ways to go about it, so many different aspects to training. There's moveset, endurance, speed, level, evolution, efficiency, yada, yada, yada."

Misty tilted her head, peeking an eye at Molly, who had sat down next to Misty, though her legs were folded in a butterfly position far from the water. Her legs were nearly flat against the ground, showing how flexible her hips were without even trying; obviously Misty had been right in guessing that she was a dancer.

"Well, where do you think I need to start?"

"Hmm." Misty thought back to the Battles of the past couple of days. She was trying to develop an analytical eye, observe what the moments were that made all the difference in a Battle. "I think it's your Pokémon's moves that need the work. They just don't have that elemental edge behind them."

"What do you mean?"

Misty put her forearms on the ground, using them to push up and look around. She spotted a medium-sized rock sticking out of the ground, tall enough for an adult to perch on if they so desired.

"I want one of your Pokémon to destroy that," Misty stated, pointing to the rock. "That rock isn't a Pokémon, so it doesn't have the same elemental energy that a Rock Type would, but it still has some of the element intrinsically in it, just like this water," Misty forced her numb leg to give a little kick to the water's surface, "manifests some of the Water Typing. So Fighting won't be super effective against that rock, per se, but it should shatter if the strength behind a Fighting Attack has enough energy."

"Kind of like channeling a move's STAB?"

Same Type Attack Bonus; Misty was a little surprised but impressed that Molly knew what that was. "Yes. STAB doesn't just happen. It is a force that you need to strengthen like anything else."

Molly looked toward the rock. "Well, what'll happen if it doesn't work?"

Misty grinned cheekily. "Then the rock wins."

Molly frowned, the lines on her face and the dark eyeshadow on her eyelids making her look tough and strong. "We'll see about that."

She then jumped up, sticking her hands into her bulky black sweatshirt pocket and enlarging a 'Ball. Her Hitmonchan materialized not two feet away from the rock.

Hitmonchan seemed to be Molly's key player. Misty had to assume that they carried some kind of bond; that should help with this.

"We could eat this rock for breakfast. Right, Hitmonchan?"

"Just get Hitmonchan started with some warming up, okay, Molly?" Misty called out, closing her eyes and returning back to a fully supine position. The water had numbed her legs with the cold, but the dark rock was warm by the sun. It was a pleasant contrast and Misty let out a contented sigh.

Misty began to hear little grunts from both Hitmonchan and Molly as they began warming up. Practice sparring from the sounds of it. That was good; maybe it would help to channel the Fighting energy.

Typing was mysterious to Misty. Terribly interesting. The fact that leaves from a tree could land on this lake and disrupt it only with a few ripples, but that a strong Razor Leaf Attack could cut right through the water. But a weak Razor Leaf would fall somewhere in the middle, hitting the water, maybe even cutting through it a bit, but soon the leaves would fall impotent, rising to the surface like the completely un-elemental leaves from a tree. Maybe she could ask Ash more about it. She'd observed moves like those day in and day out, but it was hard to understand exactly what the elemental component of a move or a Pokémon itself was.

Like why a ghost was so different from a Ghost.

Eventually, Misty lost track of time, and not wanting to leave her legs in the cold water for more than fifteen minutes, she pulled them out, shaking them a bit and bouncing them at the knee on the ground to restart the blood flow. Molly had moved on to commanding Hitmonchan to throw various punch Attacks into the air.

Turning back to the water, Misty spotted a Goldeen soaring through the air, the water droplets on its tail falling off and sparkling like bits of the daylight itself. It cut right back into the water, horn first.

"Whoa, that was a big one," Misty commented. Before she even realized she was doing it, she was reaching for an empty PokéBall on her 'Belt, fingers itching to throw it.

She was going to catch this Pokémon.

"Staryu!" Misty called. Dutifully, Staryu floated over to Misty's shoulder. "Did you see that Goldeen?" Staryu nodded its top spine. "Well, I want to catch it! Can you go look for it?"

Instead of nodding again, Staryu let its action speak for itself as it dove into the water, right by the spot where the Goldeen had disappeared. In a moment, Misty was on her feet, thinking about Battle strategies. She hadn't caught a new Pokémon since…Frillish. And that had been _years_ ago.

Okay, so she was rusty. But Misty was still confident. This was just a Goldeen and, little did it know, but it was technically surrounded by her Pokémon.

Before long, Misty saw Staryu break the surface a little ways out in the lake. She moved along the rocky edge, trying to get as close as she could. Shortly thereafter, Misty spotted a horn, making its way for Staryu. "Watch out, Staryu!"

But Staryu was way ahead of her, already out of the water and hovering right above the Goldeen.

"Use Swift!"

Misty knew she'd have to be thoughtful about what moves she chose. Any Water move was likely to dissolve completely into the water with just a simple dive from that Goldeen. Fortunately, the sharp stars from the Swift Attack cut straight through the water and hit the Goldeen head on.

The Goldeen smacked its tail angrily against the water before loosing what appeared to be a Water Gun.

"Use Water Gun to even it out, Staryu!"

The two Attacks collided in the air, pushing into each other for a few moments before both Attacks broke, scattering water into the air like a miniature storm. Suddenly, the Goldeen dove under the water, far from where Misty or Staryu could see it.

"Watch out, it's going to use its horn!"

Misty may never have caught a Goldeen out in the wild, but she had used a few at the Gym. Most of the Gym's Pokémon were bred rather than captured, after all. But that left Misty with a great familiarity with the Pokémon, even if it was wild. And any time that a Goldeen was trying to get some distance on you, it was rearing back for a Peck or Horn Attack or worse.

Even with the warning, though, the sun was reflecting too strongly on the lake to be able to see even an inch beneath the depths. So before long, the Goldeen burst out of the water, horn first and brushed Staryu before it managed to dodge to the side.

Misty grit her teeth. "Okay, Rapid Spin!"

Staryu followed the Goldeen in its descent back into the water and began striking it with each of its spines as it began spinning faster and faster, kicking up an ongoing spout of water as it did so. Every hit smacked Goldeen until it too was spinning uncomfortably in the water, looking dizzy as well as damaged.

"Hit it now with one good Tackle!"

Staryu used its momentum to move back for a second before hitting a well-aimed Tackle at close range, skipping the Goldeen like a flat stone only feet away from Misty.

"Perfect!" Misty exclaimed. "PokéBall, go!"

The PokéBall landed on the surface of the water, bouncing with buoyancy as the red light flashed off and on. Misty clenched her fists eagerly, more hopeful than she had thought she would be when finally the light stopped flashing with a satisfying hum.

"Yes!" Misty cried, throwing a victorious fist into the air. "Staryu, can you bring that over here?"

Awkwardly, Staryu kicked the ball through the water until it was within reach of Misty, who pulled it out of the water and shook it off a bit before drying it against her shorts. A grin split on her face as she held the freezing 'Ball in her hand. She had forgotten how good it felt to catch a new Pokémon, to have the opportunity to train a new Pokémon.

"Goldeen, come out here!"

Goldeen materialized back in the water, right by Misty's feet. She quickly fished a Potion out of her bag and applied it to it—her? Him? Judging by the size of that horn, definitely a him—to which he looked very grateful.

Misty looked over to Molly, who was now working on demonstrating gestures that seemed to be actual _moves_ instead of dance steps. Good for her.

Well, if Molly was going to train, then Misty wanted to as well. She felt raring to go right now anyway, and now they had a new teammate to whip into shape. Besides, her last training session had been interrupted by that strange note—which Misty remained absolutely clueless about. This was the longest she'd gone in years without an intense training.

It was a bummer that Misty wouldn't be able to use Noir. But Molly being right there would have made it impossible, even if Noir had been anywhere around. But that would probably throw off her new Goldeen anyway. Sticking with Water Types would be a great place to start.

"Staryu! Can you get the others? It's time to get back into shape!"

Most people wouldn't be able to tell, but Misty knew that Staryu was excited at the prospect. She could read it on its body. And she was excited too. A lot had been going on lately and training would provide the perfect return to normalcy.

* * *

Misty watched the glow of the dying embers from the fire she and Molly had made earlier that night. They weren't too far from the lake, but they had taken cover in the sparse forest rather than staying out in the open. There were a lot more trees here than there had been just heading out of Viridian and for that, Misty was grateful. At this point she was comfortable sleeping outside, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to sleep in a field with nothing but tall grass giving her shelter.

Molly had stopped turning a few minutes ago and her breathing had evened out, so Misty had to assume that she was asleep. The last thing Misty had to do before going to sleep was to stomp out the coals that once were their campfire, but right now she was content just to watch them burn, the bright coral color staining her eyes against the dark of night.

They had spent the whole day training. Molly hadn't been able to get her Hitmonchan to shatter the rock, but it was getting close. There were spider web cracks beginning to weave fault lines through the stone. Misty had gotten the chance to work a lot with Gyarados. The lake was huge, bigger than any of the aquariums or pools in the Gym, even the one that her sisters used for shows. So it had provided the perfect opportunity to really work on Gyarados's physicality.

Needless to say, she and Molly had gotten completely soaked by Gyarados's splashing. Misty was lucky that Molly had a sunny disposition, because most people would be grumpy at the very least at getting splashed in the cold of early spring, but they made it through with laughs and hard work to warm them back up.

It had been a good day. A productive day. Finally more like what Misty had imagined a journey would be like, complete with no ghosts.

She wouldn't share that part with Noir when they caught up, though.

Ash and Pikachu hadn't shown up again either. She figured the tongue lashing she'd given them the night before had scared them off from trying to talk to her while another human was around.

It was okay, though. Molly was a welcome change of pace. First of all—she was alive. Secondly, Misty liked being able to impart wisdom on her. Or if not wisdom, at least she got to share what she knew about battling. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she'd been trying to channel Ash and the way he'd shared his thoughts on Molly and Giovanni's Gym Battle. Misty shook her head and bit back a chuckle. That boy really knew about Pokémon.

The wind picked up a little bit and Misty tugged at the sleeves of her sweater. In the flickering light of the coals, her bruises looked even more mottled than they had earlier that day. Even her hands were bruised, which she wasn't sure had ever happened to her before. Judging from past encounters, they probably had a week before they were fully faded, and then all she'd have to worry about was her lingering concussion.

Molly had asked about the bruises when Misty had made the mistake of rolling her sleeves up to the elbow while they were training. This was before getting supremely doused by Gyarados, of course. Molly had asked about them, but unlike Nurse Joy, her eyes had sparkled with more curiosity than concern.

Misty had simply replied that journeying was harder than she had expected. A total truth all around without giving any specifics as to how she'd gotten the bruises.

To Misty's surprise, Molly had nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's totally harder than I thought." And then she'd turned to Misty with that eager face. "But of course it's hard for me! How is it hard for you? You're a Gym Leader!"

It was hard not to scoff at that again, just at the memory of it. Everyone—random people like Molly, interviewers like DJ Mary, even Ash—seemed to think that they knew something about her because of the titles that she held. Misty was willing to bet that her journey—short though it was—was harder than Molly's, despite whatever supposed experience she carried.

Molly had raw dedication and passion. And from the wannabes she'd seen passing through her Gym, she knew that those two things would be more than enough to drive her for time to come.

The one thing that comforted Misty was that _she_ knew that she had that spirit too. Regardless of anything she'd been through with her sisters and the Gym for the past many years, she knew that Pokémon training was it for her. Nothing could get in the way of that.

Out of nowhere, the wind began to pick up. Stray strands of hair from Misty's lazy ponytail began to whip her eyes, striking tears out of them. She brushed her bangs back with both hands and blinked back the tears, trying to get her vision to focus on the night. She'd been staring at the fire entirely too long and it had branded her eyes so all she could see were dancing spots.

And then the landscape shifted.

Orange flames burst out on the grass by the fire pit Misty and Molly had crudely fashioned, and began licking at the trees surrounding their campsite. A scream bled past Misty's lips as she saw the fire spreading, the blustering air only pushing the fire further around the campsite.

Wasn't it catching too fast? Misty couldn't help but be stuck for a moment in confusion. The grass wasn't that dry, and in some spots there was more dirt than grass to begin with. How was it spreading like this? What was she supposed to do?

"Wha? What's going—Aah!"

Molly's scream, like Misty's, was carried off by the wind, overtaken by the hungry lapping of the flames, now nearly encircling their campsite. Hearing Molly's scream was finally enough to push Misty to action. Misty grabbed for her backpack and pulled out her four PokéBalls. She could feel her hand sweating around them as she stared at them, lost. Her hand tingled as she felt her heart begin to pound in her chest, in her throat.

Gyarados certainly wouldn't fit in the clearing without some of his body falling into the fire. And there were too many trees around for him to fit anywhere else. Both he and her new Goldeen were all but useless out of water anyway. Misty made a quick decision, shoving those two 'Balls in her pocket and tossing the remaining ones into the air.

"Misty calls Staryu and Frillish!"

Both Pokémon appeared in front of her, Frillish hovering right by her shoulder. They immediately recoiled at the sight of the bright, burning campsite. Misty could just imagine Frillish's skin becoming puckered like a days old balloon, the moisture being sucked out of him by the spreading fire.

"Use Water Gun! Or Hydro Pump! Whatever you've got!"

Abruptly, the Water Pokémon faced opposite directions and began dousing the flames with everything they had. Their streams were strong, but Misty was instantly regretting their rigorous training from earlier that day. Her Pokémon were tired. Even at full strength it would be difficult for two unEvolved Pokémon to rein in a forest fire.

A fire that was spreading quickly. The sudden wind was blowing almost like a tornado, spreading the fire in every direction so that it was closing in on their campsite from all angles. The trees were being blown every which way and Misty worried it was only a matter of time before the flames began climbing the bare branches, out of reach of any of her Pokémon.

She had to think quickly. She was a trainer, dammit. She could think under pressure. Misty squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself not to focus on the fire.

The only way out was to chance the flames or to defeat the fire from the inside, and Misty was hellbent on doing the latter. She crushed her teeth together, trying to steel herself against the mounting wind of hot, acrid breath around her.

She had to take a chance.

"Staryu, blast your Water Gun into the ground," Misty commanded, pointing to the dirt patch in front of her. "There."

She knew she was crazy to take any of her limited waterpower away from the fire for even a moment, but this was the best idea she was going to have against this thing, she knew. So she had to bet that whatever ground she was losing in these precious moments, she would regain shortly. She refused to let herself consider any other outcome.

Staryu turned away from the fire for the briefest of moments and shot its Water Gun at the ground, full force, sending dirt shrapnel up at Misty's legs. She ignored the sharp pricks of pain—surely a few more bruises for her—as she enlarged one of her two remaining PokéBalls.

"Go back to the fire!" Misty shouted frantically as she moved on to part two of her plan. At her feet, there was now a small hole, about two feet in diameter, and filled with muddy water. "Misty calls Goldeen!"

The fiery scene became even brighter as Misty's new Goldeen emerged in a blast of white energy, right in the tiny pool.

"Water Gun, Goldeen!"

Misty hopped out of the way as Goldeen began spraying water with all his might at another section of the flames. A sigh of the tiniest relief escaped Misty as she wiped her sweaty bangs away from her brows. At least Goldeen was obeying her. She didn't have a ton of experience with training wild Pokémon, and one training session certainly wasn't enough to guarantee respect from one. Goldeen probably just had the sense to know that now wasn't the time to disobey.

As Misty chanced a terrifying look at the hellish campsite, she couldn't tell if the fire was diminishing or if it was merely being held at bay; she could only see crackling orange and white sparkling in her vision. She spotted Molly doing what she could to gather the hard, clay-like dirt of their campsite into her hands and chuck it at the fire, attempting to smother it that way. Hardly about to think up a better idea, Misty quickly bent down and began to do the same.

Then it became mechanical. Misty detached herself from the flames, the campsite, even her Pokémon, and focused on hurling dirt at the fire, hardly even looking at what she was doing. She only lived as far as her body, focusing on the feeling of her shirt clinging with sweat to her back, the rocking motion of her torso as she dove for the dirt and flung it forward. She began to feel seasick, but she just took a deep breath to settle her stomach and continued at it.

Misty almost didn't notice the flames beginning to recede. Before she knew it, she had to throw farther to hit the flames, her right shoulder burning in protest as she continued to pitch with all her might. Then there was no fire at all; not even the coals from the campfire burned any longer and the ground was wet from the Water Attacks. All that remained was the ghostly silver trail of steam dispelling into the sky.

It was over. They had survived. A quick survey of their campsite showed that none of their belongings had been burnt, which was nothing short of miraculous. Misty had to blink the lights and the sweat out of her eyes just to make sure that she wasn't imagining it, but it was true. She looked to Molly, who had dirt smeared on her forehead, but a dopey smile of relief below it.

"We did it," she breathed.

Misty nodded, too breathless to respond with anything else.

Of course, it hadn't just been them. She looked at her Pokémon, who all looked exhausted. She didn't have to touch Frillish to know that his skin was thirsting for water, and Staryu's gem was beeping dully at a slow pulse. Goldeen's little puddle was more mud than water and his mouth was gaping, like he wasn't able to get enough oxygen.

Misty returned them wordlessly, promising a rest.

Another look down at her sleeping bag, totally untarnished from the night's events, reminded her that she needed a rest too.

If she'd ever be able to fall asleep.

"Are you comfortable sleeping here, Molly?" Misty scratched out, her throat so parched that it choked off some of her sounds.

"Um…" Molly was still smiling, but it was obviously just a brave front. "Sure, if you are?"

Misty gave one nod; of course they weren't going to stay.

"It'll probably be safer to go back to the water," she said. "We don't want to be breathing in smoke or anything. Besides, my Pokémon would probably do well to sleep in the lake."

Molly didn't even try to mask her relief. "Okay. Let's go."

As Misty bent down to place her 'Balls back in her bag, she saw Molly simply hoist up her sleeping bag, draping it over both her arms.

"It's not far," Molly explained. "I'm too exhausted to roll it up."

Misty suddenly felt her exhaustion press down on her and silently agreed, swinging her pack over her shoulder and then picking up the sleeping bag like she was a human forklift.

"Let's go."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, let's all thank C'sMelody for reminding me that fire is scary and it should be written as such. On three: Thanks, C'sMelody!

Okay, yeah, I've been gone for a while. Last semester was...a lot. And this one is bound to be as well, given that it's my last one maybe ever (unless my dad's wishes of grad school come true).

Hey, wait! It's been a year today since I published this story! How cool is that? (Would be cooler if I were further along with the story...) A lot of things have changed in it in this past year. Hah, if only you guys knew...


	14. A Meeting and a Parting

**Rating:** Upped to T for language, death-related themes, and violence.

* * *

 **A Meeting and a Parting**

" _Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on_."

–Frederic Chopin

* * *

Misty's head felt heavy as she became aware of the sound of water lapping around her and a light breeze on her forehead. Oh, right. She was concussed. And sleeping on the edge of a lake.

And exhausted from a late night forest fire.

Misty groaned as she pushed herself up, noticing that the muscles in her right shoulder seemed to have all ganged up against her into one super muscle of pain. She supposed she wasn't surprised. She'd have to invest in some painkillers some time in this journey—that much was obvious.

Her eyes were dry, as was her tongue, which was just barely enough encouragement to push herself out of the warmth of her sleeping bag with the goal of drinking some water out of the lake. But as she blinked her vision awake, she noticed that Molly was already up and braiding her hair into what seemed to be her signature rope-like hairstyle.

"Hey, sorry I slept in," Misty's voice crackled out. She tried clearing her throat, but that just made it burn with dryness. "I'll be ready in five minutes."

She knelt over by the river and made a bowl out of her hands, taking a few hearty sips and splashing some water on her face for good measure. In doing so, she caught a whiff of her sweaty smell. Oof. Maybe ten minutes. It seemed as though she needed something of an improvised bath.

"No, it's okay," Molly said, eyes totally focused on her braiding. "I was thinking of just heading out on my own."

"On your own?" Misty echoed, turning away from the water. It was dripping off of her face and hair onto her clothes, but she didn't much notice. "Were you going to tell me?"

"Of course, of course!" Molly insisted, finally making eye contact with Misty. "I was gonna wake you up before I shipped out."

Misty looked Molly up and down. She had already packed her things and it looked as though the only thing she hadn't done was her hair—which she was quickly finishing.

There was no use dwelling on it, though. It didn't matter if Molly was lying or not; Misty knew now, and that was the matter at hand.

"Because of the fire?" Misty asked. "If so, I'm really sorry about that. I'll be more careful next time, I promise."

"Um." Molly tied off her braid and looked uneasily at the ground, doing some calf-raises mindlessly. "Yeah. That's definitely part of it."

Misty waited a second for Molly to continue, but her patience didn't last long. "Well, what's the rest of it?"

"I just…" Molly began rolling through her feet, one foot at a time, rocking side to side. "I guess I'm not cut out for this. You said yourself that this stuff was really difficult, and if it's hard for you, then what am I going to do in Cinnabar with you when I can't even beat a rock?"

Molly was shaking her head, her braid flying every which way.

"But," Misty started, confused by this abrupt change in personality, "that's not true. Everyone's going to have different challenges, but that doesn't mean you can't overcome them. I've seen progress in you even in just these two days. As for the fire, accidents hap—"

"I'm not giving up, okay?" Molly said quickly and, honestly, somewhat aggressively. Her tone was so pointed that it sounded like an entirely different person than the one Misty had been talking to for the past couple of days. "I'm just…I don't know. Gonna go home and maybe try again later. Better?"

"Well…don't say that just to please me," Misty said, confused now as to why Molly suddenly had such animosity towards her. "Are you mad at me about the fire? Because I really am sor—"

"No, I know," Molly said, interrupting again. At least this time her voice held a little kindness. "I don't blame you. But you have to admit…that was fucking scary. Things are fucking scary out here."

"They are," Misty agreed. "But that's why we're never alone. We always have our Pokémon and I'm happy to travel with you. Really."

"It's not enough. I just…please, Misty." She was pleading now, her voice making her sound jarringly vulnerable compared with her tough look. "I need to go home."

"I…" Misty was ready to argue. She didn't know why she was fighting so hard for Molly. It wasn't like she had particularly wanted to travel with her, and before this moment, she hadn't even attached the word friend to her.

But she wasn't about to keep someone where they didn't want to be.

"Fine," Misty conceded, trying to keep her voice airy and non-judgmental. It was surprisingly challenging. "Travel safe."

At that, Molly went back to normal for a second, with a look of good humor. "Oh, don't worry. After yesterday, that's all I'll be thinking about."

Misty cracked half a smile. "Right. And, hey, Molly?"

Molly had already turned around, ready to head off back to wherever she was from. But she turned around, braid swinging.

"Good luck."

"Thanks," Molly said with the best grin she could muster. "You too."

Misty watched for a moment as Molly walked away, but given how flat the plains were between Pallet and Viridian, she could likely watch Molly for a good many minutes before she disappeared into the distance. So she turned away and put herself to work.

All she had out was her sleeping bag and her pack, so she first went about rolling up the sleeping bag. Then she shuffled around in her backpack for a protein bar that would make a fair enough breakfast. She wasn't about to cook up anything that needed a fire.

Misty's pajamas were rank with her sweat, and her body felt the layer of salt on her skin. She could taste it on her lips when her tongue darted out to wet them. Honestly, she was surprised that she didn't smell of smoke. And…neither did her sleeping bag or her pack. Maybe it was possible that the crazy wind from the night before had kept any of it from settling? Or perhaps the night had simply worn the smell away.

Well, Misty was no expert on smoke and, either way, she was in dire need of a bath and wasn't about to wait until she got to Pallet Town to do it.

Misty walked into the water, clothes and all, the shock of the cold pressing the air out of her lungs. She didn't dislike it, but she knew she would when she was thirty minutes into her walk and still couldn't warm up, so she made her rinse as quick as possible.

All of her Pokémon were in the water, looking thankfully better than they had the night before. They bobbed up to her and even managed to get a laugh or two out of her. She hopped out of the water as soon as she could, shivering despite herself. Her pale lips were definitely an unhealthy blue by now; she had to get those wet clothes off of her.

There was nowhere around to change. She could have gone back to the trees from yesterday, but even they were sparse enough that they didn't offer that much protection. Finally, she settled on getting Gyarados to lean his body out of the water and coil around her, creating a tiny waterside dressing room. Frankly, it offered more privacy than even the densest of trees could have, so as she dried off and warmed up, she felt a tad smug.

That smugness provided the touch of buoyancy that allowed her to continue with her day. She put on her shoes, tied her hair up, and began walking south along the water, keeping her Pokémon out. It would be rare that she was able to travel with them, so she wanted to take advantage of it.

She'd lost one traveling companion and, in turn, gained four. Kinda.

After a couple of hours of uneventful walking, the sun was at its zenith and Misty was thawed out to the point of even being warm. Her underarms were beginning to sport a little sweat again. For a moment, she dared to think that this was more what she had imagined her journey to be like. If she ignored the fire and the hasty evacuation of her traveling companion, then the moment's peace almost lulled her into complacency. Just a girl and her Pokémon, headed to Cinnabar Island for a well-earned vacation.

But the moment crunched under her toe like dry grass when she spotted two glowing figures up ahead.

Misty's stomach clenched instinctively, but it only took her a moment to recognize how much smaller the second ghostly figure was to the first, and then she knew precisely who she was dealing with. Twenty-four hours weren't enough to forget those two.

Misty darted her head around to see if any other people were in the vicinity. When it was clear that they were the only ones around, she shouted, "Hey, Ash!"

They looked over at her and immediately began to fly in her direction. Ash began to shout back at her. "I was going to just drop in on you, then Pikachu said that maybe we should place ourselves in front of you so that you couldn't say that we surprised you again!"

Well, they had kind of surprised her anyway, but it certainly was an improvement. "Thanks, Pikachu!"

"Chaa!" Pikachu squealed as he upped the pace and came catapulting in her direction.

"Oof!" Misty let out as Pikachu made contact with her ribs. "Hi, cutey."

She ruffled his ears and Pikachu nuzzled himself further into her middle, cooing.

"Hey, Misty," Ash said as he finally caught up. "Long time no see."

Misty smiled wryly. Usually twenty-four hours meant a day of a few battles, some lost but most won, and a buttload of chores. But given her most recent slice of life…

"Yeah, it really was," Misty agreed.

"Woah, are these all your Pokémon?"

Ash had looked at her only long enough to give a dopey smile before his attention had turned to the water. Her Pokémon were going back and forth between being fully submerged and popping up to see that they were keeping stride with Misty. Just then, Staryu and Gyarados had broken the surface, Frillish and Goldeen—Goldeen already getting along well with the group—soon following.

Misty laughed as Ash hovered over the water and then dove in with them. Only Frillish could see him, but Misty knew Ash well enough that that wouldn't keep him from getting up close and personal with her Pokémon.

"So cool!" Ash exclaimed when he flew out of the water again. "I didn't know you had a Gyarados."

"Well, now you do. And, you know, I just caught that Goldeen yesterday."

Ash's eyes sparkled. "Tell me all about it!"

* * *

"I don't need to talk about it."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Misty and Ash were walking side by side south along the lake across the surprisingly coarse, dry grass, which was now showing its true form as a river. And Misty was going to blame the lulling sound of the river flowing and her Pokémon splashing along for her loose lips.

In telling Ash about the previous afternoon—training and catching Goldeen, all of which he'd listened to with the rapt attention of a child hearing a fairytale for the first time—she'd accidentally told him about what had happened after. And Misty learned that Ash wasn't only concerned about Pokémon.

It turned out that her nearly dying was enough to stoke his curiosity as well.

And, well, she'd clammed up.

Ash seemed to interpret this as emotional torment, but Misty just didn't feel the need to have a therapy session and digest how she was feeling. She'd redoubled her distaste for fire, if that counted.

Really, Misty wasn't the most reactionary person. When a bad thing happened—as they often did to her—she didn't gasp or cry or usually show any psychosomatic response to whatever stimulus should be causing her to lose her shit. She had gotten too used to having to pretend to be unaffected and now it was par for the course.

But, to be fair, this was absolutely a situation in which Misty should have been losing her shit. Her shit should have been nowhere to be found.

But that just wasn't the case. When these incidents happened to her, the shock would hit for a moment and then she'd sort of shrug with a 'well, that was bad' demeanor, and brush it off. Let it be something for therapy later in life.

Of course, this attribute made her sisters cry and say that she was unfeeling and insensitive, but Misty couldn't help it. She liked to put a positive spin on it and just say that she carried the emotional endurance for all four of them.

So, no, she didn't feel the need to spill her guts to Ash. She got the feeling that he wouldn't know what to do with her guts once she handed them to him anyway. And, while she knew deep down that her guts were more rattled than usual—as this had been a much worse 'bad thing' than usual—she also knew that the best way to right them again would just be to keep moving.

"Um."

Misty was a little surprised to hear Ash trying to engage her in conversation again. Mostly, she just hoped that he wasn't about to ask her about how she was feeling again.

"What?" she asked, it coming out a little more aggressively than she'd been going for. Ash didn't seem to notice.

"Actually, _I_ wanted to talk to you about something."

Well, that was interesting. Was he finally going to tell her about his death? Was she going to find out the thing that was keeping him tethered to this planet? Misty usually felt nothing but cold apprehension when it seemed like a ghost was about to unload its baggage on her, but by this point with Ash…Well, she'd grown curious.

As Misty pondered these options, she expected Ash to continue with what he supposedly wanted to tell her, but he'd stopped altogether. She looked at him dumbly. "Spit it out, Ash."

"Well, actually," he began again, rubbing the back of his neck, " _I_ wasn't really the one who wanted to talk to you. Someone else did. Well, two someone elses, but…"

Ash trailed off and Misty continued to stare at him, confused by his babbling. But she didn't like where this was going. "Who?" she finally asked.

"Uh, well, don't get mad—"

"No promises," Misty declared. "Who?"

Ash abruptly stopped walking, and Misty did so as well, anger beginning to roil in her stomach. He was hiding his gaze under his cap, but Misty could see guilt tilting his eyebrows, widening his eyes. Like he'd done something he shouldn't have. She was so busy deciphering his expression that she didn't notice that they had company.

Misty dropped Pikachu from her arms when she saw two ghosts standing in front of her, sharing Ash's guilty expression almost to an uncanny degree. Fay and Daniel.

Lots of guilt to go around, it seemed.

And well deserved.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Misty asked, seething. "What, do you have ghost meetings once a week?"

"Don't worry, don't worry!" Ash piped up, jumping in to defuse the situation before Misty's temper grew to a powder keg. "They're here to apologize."

"You promised I wouldn't have to see them again." Misty said this to Ash, but she immediately turned to the two ghosts in front of her and pushed up the sleeves of her sweater. "Look at what you did to me! My arms are covered in bruises and I have a concussion. And you think you can just apologize?"

"That…isn't actually what they wanted to apologize for," Ash said, wincing as he did so as though bracing for impact.

"But we'll apologize for that too!" Daniel piped up.

Misty squarely ignored him and turned back to Ash. "Setting aside how rude it is that they wouldn't see me and be on their knees begging for my apology—especially since I'm now supposed to be figuring out how they died—what the heck else could they have to apologize for?" Ash was about to answer, but only managed to let out a squeak before Misty interrupted with: "And do I even _want_ to know?"

"Yes, they owe you this much," Ash said calmly, turning to the two ghosts, nodding for them to continue.

Daniel, for his part, seemed frightened of Misty, something she wished they'd felt just a few days ago. It would have saved her a world of hurt. Fay was the one to speak up.

"We're sorry we stole your bike."

Well, that wasn't what she'd been expecting.

"You…" Misty blinked. "You what?"

"I moved your bike and tossed it into a ravine."

"H-How? You're a ghost. You can't touch, you know, earthly objects."

Fay seemed to take this as a challenge. "Sure I can."

Fay looked around for a moment before settling on Misty. Misty looked around herself, disturbed, when she felt the weight of her bag lessen on her shoulders. Then, all at once, she felt it fall back down, causing her—almost—to land on her ass.

"What the…how? How do you do that?"

Even Ash seemed intrigued, his eyes wide like a little kid's. "Can I do that?"

Fay ignored Ash. She was having this conversation with Misty. "It's telekinesis. I trained in it back in Saffron City. It's a lot easier now."

She looked at the river and seemed to grab a handful of it with her mind before throwing it into the air.

"So easy that she does it by accident sometimes," Daniel added eagerly. "We figured it out back in the forest when we were…" His young features fell heavy with guilt again. "Uh, right."

"Right," Misty echoed, her voice a little snide. "Well, I guess it's nice to know where my bike went."

"See!" Ash said cheerily, apparently not catching her disingenuous tone. "That was great guys!"

Misty rolled her eyes, but she didn't have anything else to say to these kids. They weren't attacking her, and she wasn't about to try and provoke them, especially since Fay had this extra trick up her sleeve. She'd just let Ash have his little victory and she'd not mention to these kids that their deaths were probably a cold case.

There, that was all the favor they deserved.

"So how do you do telekin—uh, what was it again?" Ash asked eagerly.

Fay shrugged. "All I have to do is concentrate on something. Sometimes it takes more concentration than others. The better you are at it, the easier it is." She shoved Daniel's head a little. "That's why _he_ still can't move anything."

"Hey! I've only been practicing a couple of days! You got to practice for _years_!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Misty shook her head and started walking again, curving around the ghosts and continuing her path along the river. Her Pokémon had bobbed to the surface and noticed that she was no longer next to them, so they were sitting in the water like buoys a few meters ahead. She waved to them to signal she was catching up, and that they could continue on their way.

She only managed to walk a few steps before she noticed a dark shape barreling at her from above. Misty only allowed herself to freak out for a second before she realized that the shape was very familiar. It was all of three and a half feet of a prankster Ghost Pokémon.

"Hey, Noir!" Misty exclaimed happily. "I was wondering where you'd gotten off to!"

"Bay!" Noir cheered, flying some loop-the-loops in front of Misty.

"Hah, I'm glad you're having so much fun," Misty said dryly. "You won't believe the night I had."

Misty had just finished retelling her story to Noir by the time Ash came back, and she wasn't sure he'd noticed she was gone. _He_ certainly noticed that Noir was back, though. Noir, likewise, noticed him and shifted her position to over the river so that she could hang out with Misty's Pokémon. They were, after all, her friends as well, and she didn't get to hang out with them when there wasn't a body of water around.

Ash didn't seem offended. He seemed rather chipper, actually. Sure, he hadn't been talking about Pokémon with Fay and Daniel, but he'd seemed almost as enthused. She had to guess that when you've been dead for multiple decades, the realization that you could do one more thing was like Christmas, Halloween, and your birthday all rolled into one.

She was still pretty peeved at him, though.

Ash had the good sense not to talk to Misty for a bit and just walk alongside her, keeping a few feet of distance between them. Pikachu was also on the shoulder near to her, so he offered a bit of a buffer. When he finally did speak up, however, it was with just about the dumbest question he could ask.

"Are you mad at me?"

Mad enough to toss him into the river. The only reason why she didn't was because he wouldn't be able to feel it.

And because Pikachu was still capable of Electric Attacks. That was a good reason too.

"What would make you think that?" Misty asked sarcastically.

He didn't pick up on the sarcasm.

"Well, Noir just flew away from us like I'm toxic and a Pokémon's feelings are usually the same as their trainer's," Ash asserted. "So she's mad at me because you're mad."

"Noir doesn't like anyone and of course I'm mad at you, you idiot."

Ash seemed to consider that for a second, then nodded. "Any way I can fix that?" he asked hopefully.

Misty shook her head. "Nope."

Ash nodded again to himself, looking around, as if for inspiration. But, given that they were walking along the plains—all around there was nothing but dry grass, a few trees, and the river coming up to a waterfall—Misty couldn't expect that he would come up with anything. Instead, he changed direction.

"Are you still gonna help them figure out what happened to them and stuff?"

"Yes, Ash."

"Even though we're going…"

After a couple seconds' silence, Misty glanced at Ash, who had all but frozen in midair.

"What?" she asked, her voice low like a growl with irritation.

"Are we going to Pallet?"

Misty looked out of the corner of her eye at Ash.

His face was stiff. No general expression. He was just looking out at the waterfall, pensive if anything. That could either be a sign or not.

"Yeah, we're going to Pallet, and yeah, I don't expect to find anything for the ghosty twins there, but given that I don't have any leads, it's as good a place as any to keep thinking about it," Misty said, her voice becoming less weighted with each word. "And, by the way, what's all this we stuff? _Are_ we _going to Pallet_? You mean you and me?"

"And Noir and Pikachu. And your Pokémon."

"You mean you're staying with us?"

For once Ash turned to Misty as she looked at him. He gave a cheeky smile. "Didn't you already know that?"

"I wasn't sure," Misty admitted. "You just kind of disappear and show up randomly."

"Yeah, but I keep showing up, don't I?"

"That you do," Misty said, trying to sound annoyed again. She needed to remind him he wasn't on her good side.

Misty turned back to the hill or, rather, the waterfall. She preferred that view to that of the blindingly light blue sky beyond the hill. The water was blinding too, but only on the parts that caught the light. Like the light was dancing before her eyes instead of dancing directly _on_ her eyes.

"Anyway, Pallet is just for the port," Misty continued. "It's the closest spot for getting boats to the rest of the region, and I was planning to go to Cinnabar and maybe Vermillion after that. Hopefully for a vacation."

"Well deserved," Ash commented, though the words came out as little more than a mumble. "I guess you like spending most of your time around the water."

"Yeah," Misty breathed, letting the sound of the waterfall pound over her like a good massage. "Speaking of, we should move away if we don't want to get drenched with it."

Misty had just noticed the way Gyarados was rearing back in the water. This waterfall, steep as it was making the ground, wasn't too tall. A lucky person could probably survive the fall if they accidently made their way down to this part of the river. Therefore, it was definitely short enough for Gyarados to clear with a good jump.

Noir, always the classy act, flew behind Ash and Misty, who moved to the side just in time for Gyarados to launch itself into the air, for once looking like it was deserving of its Flying Typing. More than deserving. Gyarados was soaring in the air, arching far over the waterfall and landing headfirst in a graceful dive.

"Amazing," Ash murmured under his breath.

Misty echoed the sentiment, though she found herself lost in Ash's version of it. It was truly amazing that Ash, after being around for so long and able to do nothing but observe—mostly Pokémon from the sounds of it—could still be touched by something as simple as a Pokémon thriving in its natural habitat.

It was remarkable, though. Gyarados never got the chance to truly stretch his fins like this and she had never seen a jump like that in her whole life. How he dove head first into the water from many meters up in the air, when Gyarados are usually so sensitive to their heads. The massive size often left the upper body and the head itself in pain but here Gyarados was, diving with no regard for pain.

And it meant that the river must have been deep. Deeper than it looked, otherwise Gyarados would have smashed into the bottom and risen by now, angry and thrashing.

But as the water fell back into its regular pattern, everything was peaceful. The kind of peaceful that the world only ever was by the water.

Misty was pulled back naturally, as though she had a magnetic connection with the river, and began walking alongside it again, feeling the pleasant shift in the ground. What had been dry and hard before now had a tangible squish and the little grass by the riverbank tickled her ankles, doodling little streams of water along her skin.

She shifted her shoulders a bit and swung her pack onto her stomach, causing Noir to back off of her and over to the water again. Misty fished around for her PokéBalls and returned her other three Pokémon one by one. She knew they couldn't swim up the falls. Well, at least not on a first try. And she'd left them in the water so that they could heal, not to wear them out.

It was time for a nice, long rest.

* * *

Misty found that she couldn't stay mad very long. At least not at Ash—she'd managed grudges against her sisters for, well, years. Any attitude she gave him he either didn't notice or he just sassed her back.

But his quips were so pathetic she couldn't help but thaw out a bit. When Noir noticed, she would fly over to Misty's ear and make fun of her. Misty had no choice but to ignore these statements and fight down the blushes that sometimes accompanied them.

Ash ended up leading the way once they passed the river and there were no real land markers according to Misty's map. They walked through the rest of the short day before setting up camp under a cluster of trees. She was apprehensive about it, but after double checking that she'd stamped out her campfire completely—and spilling a bit of water on it—she managed to talk herself into a turbulent rest.

It helped that Noir was nearby this time.

As they continued walking the next morning there was just grass and the occasional tree as far as the eye could see. Eventually the woods began to gather again and they split around a beaten dirt trail, reaching its peak at a tall hill overlooking Pallet.

It was smaller than Misty had expected. Not that Misty had never been to Pallet before—she had just only been there on late-night ghost missions. Not exactly the best opportunity for sight-seeing. Or even for being able to see what you were looking for, if Misty recalled correctly.

From Misty's high vantage point, Pallet Town just looked like a drawing a small child had toiled over with one tan colored crayon. Everything—houses, roads, acres of farmland—was a monochromatic sandy brown aside from what appeared to be the renowned Professor Oak's laboratory on the fringe of things. It stood out with a bright red roof and a windmill and miles of land behind it. Misty didn't know where the lab ended and where the rest of the world began. Or maybe the rest of the world was Oak's lab.

Again, Misty cast Ash a sidelong glance. He too was looking over at the town, his face stoic and the usual child-like levity that Misty had grown to expect in moments of peace was nowhere to be found.

If Misty had to wager a guess, she would definitely say that Ash had a history in Pallet. Then again, it seemed that he probably had a history in most of Kanto at this point. She was then led to wonder if this is where Ash had died. The war had all but destroyed Pallet—which was why it was the rural settlement that it was today—so it would make sense if this was where his bones were buried.

Misty turned away. It was spooky to think that someone so alive to her could have his skeletal remains in the very land she was looking at. Or in the very ground she was standing on.

"Let's keep moving," Misty said needlessly as she made to go over the hill, stepping for the downhill slide into Pallet.

Pallet was a little greener upon actually stepping foot in town. But it was quiet as it had been when she'd been looking down on it from the hill.

"Hey, so are you heading straight through town to the port or are you going to hang around a little?" Ash asked, casting his gaze about the entrance of town.

"I thought that my Pokémon could use a visit to the Pokémon Center, actually," Misty answered, looking around for that familiar red rooftop.

The town was so sleepy that she felt comfortable talking to him, though even still, she made sure not to act like she was engaging another human being. She kept her eyes straight ahead and spoke under her breath.

"There's no Pokémon Center," Ash said quickly. "If you want your Pokémon looked at, you'd have to go to Professor Oak's lab."

He gestured at the very building Misty had been admiring earlier, visible though it was on the far side of town from where she was standing.

"Alright," Misty said. "It might be nice to talk to him anyway."

"Okay, then," Ash said absently, his voice heavy with more words than he was saying. "I'm going to go…run an errand."

Before Misty could point out that Ash was a ghost and therefore incapable of 99.9% of errands, Ash and Pikachu were off, flying into town.

"Maybe I'll catch up with you later!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Alright then, I guess it's just you and…" But as Misty turned to look to Noir, she saw Noir winking out of visibility with a wave.

Apparently even Pallet wasn't a sleepy enough town to keep Noir around.

"Well…straight through town, then, I guess."

* * *

 **A/N:** Blah, blah, blah, excuses, blah, blah, sorry I'm late. Truly, though. (Oh, and to the reviewer who I promised the next chapter to in February or whatever...I'm very, very sorry.) In all fairness, my beta (the amazing C'sMelody) and I have been working on publishing this chapter since December. But time slipped away from the both of us this semester. Oh yeah, speaking of which, I'm a college graduate now! Crazy! And I officially have an English minor, so let's see if my writing gets any better, haha.

I have a job right now and I'm fairly nomadic in terms of living situations, so life is very much in a state of flux. And, you know, busy. I'm also working on a couple other Pokémon stories that I hope to publish soon. So, no promises for when the next chapter of this story comes out, but I hope to work on a lot of it come July when I'm comfortably at home with more resources at my disposal. This chapter is a bit of a filler, so I'm sorry if it wasn't satisfactory. The next one should be more exciting! Thank you so much to all who are still reading this story despite my inconsistency. It means a lot.


	15. Another Life

.

 **Another Life**

" _In the main, ghosts are said to be forlorn and generally miserable, if not downright depressed. The jolly ghost is rare._ "

–Dick Cavett

* * *

Misty rang the doorbell to Professor Oak's laboratory, the booming ring resounding from inside the house and practically rattling Misty's bones. The house must have been huge—bigger than Misty could see, at least—if it needed that potent a doorbell. Before long, the door swung open and Misty was standing face to face with the professor himself. A smile broke out on her face.

"Professor Oak," Misty started as calmly as she could muster. "I'm—"

"Misty Waterflower," Professor Oak interrupted, somehow managing to talk through a grin. "Yes, I know you. Come in, come in."

Frankly, Misty wasn't surprised that Professor Oak knew her; anyone well-educated in Pokémon in Kanto probably should. Nevertheless, it filled her heart with beaming pride as she walked past the threshold into his lab a welcome guest.

"Tell me what I can do for you, dear," Professor Oak said as he walked straight into a sitting room. He gestured to a red couch. "Please."

"Thank you," Misty replied, taking a seat, surprised to find how comfortable it was, despite the obvious age it wore if the style was anything to go off of. "I was actually hoping that you could heal my Pokémon."

"Good thing you said that before I sat down," Professor Oak said, hopping away from the couch. "I'll get that done right away for you."

Misty collected her 'Balls from her bag and handed them over like she was so practiced at doing at the Pokémon Center. "I appreciate it, Professor."

"My pleasure."

As Professor Oak left the room, Misty took the opportunity to look around. Predictably, the room was lined with bookshelves. Most contained books—probably research books, judging by the uniform, nondescript spines—but there were also photographs and collectibles. Perhaps they were family heirlooms that had been passed down.

Before she had the opportunity to get up and snoop further, Professor Oak came back, a nice tea service in hand.

"They'll be right as rain soon enough," he said as he placed the tea on the coffee table and settled into the sofa across from her. He gestured to the still-steeping tea. "I didn't know how you took it."

"That's fine," Misty said, as she reached for both the sugar and the cream the professor had brought in on a tray. Tea was alright, but a little bitter for her taste; she liked to smother the bad parts with honey and milk until only the good, spicy flavors remained.

"So do you have any questions about Water Pokémon?" Professor Oak asked, starting off their conversation. "Because I just saw a fascinating lecture about the innate difference in the strength of Water moves between terrestrial and aquatic-based—"

"Actually, do you know anything about Ghost Types?" Misty interrupted before she could stop herself. "…Professor?"

Professor Oak looked taken aback, both by being cut off with a strange outburst as well as by the question itself. Nevertheless, he recovered and sat in thoughtful silence for a moment.

"Well, Ghosts have never been my area of expertise," he began, "as most of my studies have involved Pokémon behavior with people, and Ghosts don't tend to interact very much with people."

Misty had to hold back a snarky comment. Sure. _Sure_ they didn't.

"Additionally, very few Ghosts make their homes in the Kanto region. I suppose there's always Lavender Town, but even then you can't count on _finding_ the Gastly line. Honestly, you'd likely have to go all the way to Hoenn to have real luck predictably encountering Ghosts. However…"

Misty sat on the edge of her seat, stirring her tea absently as she watched Professor Oak's face cloud over. His warm eyes were narrowed, and not because he was pondering something. If anything, he looked stuck in remembrance.

"However, I do know an expert in the field," Professor Oak finally let out, his breath heavy as though the words had been weighing him down. "While we don't exactly see eye to eye on her methods, I can honestly say that she knows more about Ghosts than I will ever know."

"What's her name?" Misty asked, trying to cover her eagerness.

"Agatha. Her name is Agatha."

The name rang a bell. Of course it did. "Of the Elite Four, you mean," Misty clarified.

"Yes, of course. She's a Ghost Master," Professor Oak said plainly.

"So, you recommend I talk to her?"

"Oh, I'm not sure about that," Professor Oak said hastily. Clearly more hastily than he had intended, as he immediately covered it up with a cough and a sip of his tea. "But, Ms. Waterflower, why do you want to know about Ghosts anyway? You are a Water specialist, are you not?"

"I am," Misty answered quickly. "But my star Pokémon is my Frillish and I'd like to more fully understand his duality."

Luckily she always had that particular lie locked and loaded. Even more fortunately, it wasn't even a lie. She'd hate it if in the first conversation she had with the world-famous Professor Oak she lied straight to his face.

"Oh, of course." Professor Oak's smile returned. "Dual-Typing does seem to have a more interesting effect on Ghosts than other Typings."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, my elementary knowledge on the subject tells me that pure Ghosts all have certain inalienable qualities that toy with our knowledge of matter, amongst other things. But Ghosts with a secondary Typing—depending to what percent that typing seems to control in relation to the Ghost typing—don't necessarily carry those characteristics."

Misty nodded along. She knew that. Frillish didn't seem to have any ability regarding planes like Noir did. Honestly, Frillish seemed to be little more than a Water Type with some extra Attacks. And a cruel disposition in the wild, from what she knew.

"Percents," Misty commented, that being the one thing that had caught her attention. "You mean that dual-Typings are not fifty-fifty?"

"Lord, no!" the professor exclaimed with a laugh. "Tell me, do you think a Doduo is more Normal or Flying?"

"Uh, probably Normal, I guess," Misty figured. "Since they have no wings."

"Exactly," Professor Oak confirmed. "That Pokémon isn't about to be struck out of the sky by a lightning bolt anytime soon, but having two beaks was still enough to earn it that weakness."

Well, that certainly explained Frillish. And Gyarados. He had to be ninety-five percent Water and five percent Flying. If she was being generous, that was.

"That's all very interesting," Misty said after a gulp of tea. "Thanks, professor."

"Glad to be of help, dear."

Misty looked carefully down at the tea she was stirring, tentatively saying, "So, do you think that I shouldn't talk to Agatha?"

Professor Oak sighed deeply. When Misty looked up she saw that the deep lines in his face looked darker, like he had aged ten more years with that question. And spry though he seemed, Misty knew that the Professor was pushing seventy.

"Well, if you want answers about Ghosts, then she is the one to go to," he said, choosing his words selectively. "Answers about anything else, though, I would recommend be taken with a grain of salt."

That left Professor Oak to quietly sip at his tea as Misty smiled and thanked him. Then she downed the rest of her tea as she tried to think up more questions to ask. She had the ear of one of the foremost Pokémon scientists in the world and she wasn't going to waste her time asking stupid questions. She really should have made a list before coming.

Fortunately, Professor Oak had her back.

"Would you like to pick up your Pokémon and then go into the back and see the corral?"

Misty blinked, surprised for a second before she bounced out of her seat. "Of course I would!"

Professor Oak chuckled, probably used to expecting such reactions. Maybe not out of sixteen-year-old Gym Leaders, but certainly from children participating in summer camp.

"Follow me."

Professor Oak brought his tea along as he led Misty through the house, collecting her Pokémon and then passing through a dining room, a study, and a sun room before reaching a couple large glass doors leading to the expansive back yard.

Immediately, Misty was taken by how vast the space was. She couldn't begin to guess how many acres the lab took up, and she was too embarrassed to ask. But right away, she could see different paddocks for different types of Pokémon, and oh, there were so many Pokémon.

"Are all of these yours?" she gasped.

"No, dear," Professor Oak chucked as he began to lead her around. "Hardly any of them are mine, even if they've been living here for years. Some are wild and just decide that they like the habitat, but most come from Trainers that I've worked with."

Misty had forgotten that most Trainers in the Kanto region registered with Professor Oak when they were ten. There was a time where it was just the kids in Pallet, but his popularity and well-bred starters had made it a booming business for him. She supposed that it would be that time again in just a couple of weeks: the beginning of April.

All that reminded Misty of something odd from when she'd been interrogating Giovanni just a couple days before.

"Professor, were as many new Trainers registered last year as there usually are?"

The professor looked at her with his bushy eyebrows raised, showing his murky brown, almost black, eyes. "Yes, there were. The numbers have been steadily on the rise for years and years now. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing really," Misty said, mostly just trying not to make a mountain out of a Drilbur hill. "It's just that Brock and I have definitely had fewer challengers in the last month or so, but the Viridian Gym has been performing normally."

"Well, it's the off-season," Professor Oak said, echoing the conclusion that Misty and Brock themselves had come to. "The Viridian Gym doesn't ever get as much traffic as yours and Mr. Slate's, so perhaps it's harder to notice a difference in numbers. Giovanni isn't exactly a…welcoming presence."

Misty didn't fail to notice the slight chill the professor's tone had taken when talking about Giovanni. Maybe they had known each other back in Giovanni's criminal days.

"I guess that makes sense," she agreed. Misty wasn't particularly good with numbers—the Cerulean Gym tended to hire people to handle their finances and the like—but the concept was simple enough to grasp. She probably should have thought of it herself.

"This I think you'll like."

They came to the top of a hill and in the dale down below, Misty could see a stream, lakes, even a small waterfall. She wondered how much of that had been on the land to begin with and how much Professor Oak had created.

Even from above, Misty could see Water Pokémon frolicking; the water was constantly being disrupted by splashes and dives, falls and Attacks. Suddenly, Misty spotted a touch of red contrasting in the water to all of the bluish Pokémon.

"Is that a Tentacool?" Misty asked, her pace quickening as she nearly fell down the hill on the way to one of the lakes. She didn't need the professor to answer; she knew a Tentacool when she saw one. She was halfway down when she spotted the other thing that she knew on sight.

At the other end of the same lake on a sandy bank was a Kingler. Smaller than average, if the distance wasn't throwing Misty off. And above it were Ash and Pikachu, just watching it as it waded into the water. Misty kept walking, so as not to throw Professor Oak off, but her eyes were now firmly glued to Ash and Pikachu. She hoped that if he noticed her, he and Pikachu would know better than to interact with her while Professor Oak was right behind her.

However, she needed not worry, because before long, Pikachu and Ash had floated away.

Misty watched them go until they flew past some trees and out of sight. Then she shook it off, and went running towards that Tentacool again.

Before she could altogether tumble into the water—not that she would have minded, though it would have been cold this time of year—Misty stopped herself and admired the Pokémon habitat up close. Clearly this area was made just for Water Pokémon; she doubted that there was any distinction between Trainers, and probably not even any separation between the wild Pokémon and the captured ones. She suspected that at least the lake that the Tentacool was in was actually salt water, and perhaps the one with the waterfall was fresh. She'd have to take stock of the Pokémon to identify everything, but she was sure that the professor had taken every precaution when designing this section of the corral.

As Misty got closer, she could smell the briny scent of the saltwater pool. It didn't smell nearly as strong as Cerulean beach and it didn't smell as clean as the salt water tanks they had at the Gym, but it did remind her of home, and she sucked in breath after breath eagerly, as though wanting to stock up the scent to save for later. The Tentacool was still bobbing above water, the only one that she could see in this particular pool. For some reason, even though Tentacool was abundant off Kanto's coast, Tentacool seemed an uncommon Pokémon for people to add to their teams. Misty found this quite odd, as the Pokémon had a good counter for one of Water's main weaknesses: Grass. That added Poison Typing was gold in a Water Type and, frankly, Misty was dying for one herself.

"Can I touch it?" Misty asked once she heard Professor Oak catch up behind her. Somehow, she had found herself kneeling at the water's edge, hand already outstretched toward the beautiful Pokémon. She was surprised she'd had the presence of mind to ask.

"Sure," Professor Oak answered. "You can probably already tell, but that one's always been quite friendly."

Misty wasted no time in stroking the Tentacool as another Trainer might an Eevee or a Vulpix. And much as she liked those cute Pokémon, this was just way, _way_ better. There was something special about touching an aquatic Pokémon that was like touching the water itself, or feeling the caress of a strong breeze. Touching a Tentacool—or her Frillish for that matter—was like this. They were so bouncy that petting them was close to touching nothing at all.

Except that it was wonderful, of course.

"You know, Professor, I'd love to hear about that Water Type lecture that you attended now."

Eager to share, Professor Oak began relaying info about terrestrial versus aquatic versus amphibious Pokémon and their relationships to Water Attacks, all the while pointing to different Pokémon in the habitat as examples. Just then, Misty realized how long it had been since she'd picked up an article or so much as watched a program about Water Pokémon. Really, it had only been a week, but that felt like forever when it had been a part of her routine for so long and, frankly, it was a relief to get back into it there with Professor Oak. And this was even better, because she could ask questions and they could discourse over the subject.

Professor Oak was just moving over to the Kingler she'd seen earlier, talking about Water Pokémon whose skin had no physiological need to be submerged in water. Misty let him finish—primarily because she was interested in what he was saying, not because she was afraid of being rude—before she asked about it.

"Where did that Kingler come from, Professor?"

She was right; the Kingler was definitely smaller than most. But aside from that, there was nothing special about the Pokémon. She wondered if the size was enough to keep Ash and Pikachu focused on it or if maybe they had noticed something that she'd missed. She did like to think of herself as a burgeoning Water Pokémon expert, but, well, they _had_ been observing Pokémon a lot longer than she had.

The professor seemed surprised; she hadn't asked such a question of any of the other Pokémon, after all. "That Kingler belonged to a Pallet Trainer."

"'Belonged'?" Misty asked. "It doesn't belong to that Trainer anymore?"

Professor Oak coughed. "Unfortunately, that Trainer passed away some time ago."

"Oh no," Misty said, casting the Kingler a sympathetic glance. Then she broke down and just went over to it, stroking the spikes on the top of its head. The Waterflowers didn't have any Krabby or Kingler at the Gym yet, so she didn't know how the Pokémon liked to be touched, but it certainly didn't seem to object.

"It was a sad case," Professor Oak said. "The boy went MIA near the end of the war and his body was never recovered. Eventually we had to assume…"

Misty nodded. "I understand."

"Anyway," Professor Oak cleared his throat. "His mother got some of his Pokémon and the ones that were already used to the lab have stayed here with me. There was just one Pokémon of his that was never recovered either, because it never stayed in its 'Ball. But I suppose we can all find solace that at least that means that it didn't become trapped there like some Pokémon after these kinds of incidents."

Abruptly, something clicked in Misty's brain and she turned sharply to the professor. "What Pokémon was that?"

"A Pikachu."

It took every ounce of practiced nonchalance that Misty had been perfecting over the years for her not to scream, much less control her face. But, fortunately, she did, and she allowed herself one more prying question. "What was the boy's name?"

"His name was Ash," Professor Oak stated wistfully. "Ash Ketchum."

Of course this time, Misty wasn't surprised. Actually, she was hardly listening as her brain began weaving threads together. Ash had said that he had died in a battle, hadn't he? _The_ battle, she believed he had said. But it seemed the people back home didn't know that, nor did they know about Pikachu.

Misty knew she was testing her luck, but she couldn't help asking: "Did you know him? What was he like?"

"Oh," Professor Oak started, a whole myriad of emotions on his face and in his voice. Humor, dolor, fondness. "He was quite a kid. Loved Pokémon more than anything and had always dreamed of being a Pokémon Master. I even gave him his Pikachu. He was such an innocent, happy-go-lucky child. But then he was conscripted and, well, that was that."

"Was he taking part in the Pokémon League challenge?"

Misty knew, of course, that Ash hung out at the Gyms now in his afterlife, but had he challenged the Cerulean Gym when he was ten? Had he challenged her mother? Had he challenged her _grand_ mother?

"He'd taken part in a _few_ League challenges," Professor Oak corrected, good humor crinkling the corner of his eyes. "Never won, but always made a good showing. He managed to take on the Johto League just before relations between the regions went sour."

"Wow."

Misty was used to dealing with a ghost's loose ends—and those ends usually were people—so it wasn't unusual to talk to someone alive that the ghost had known in their life. But somehow with Ash, here petting his Kingler, it was surreal. It was probably just because it was Professor Oak of all people who was finally telling her something concrete about Ash's life, and Pikachu's. Here was someone who had known Pikachu even before Ash had.

"Alright, dear," Professor Oak said as they finished up talking. "Before I start boring you with my old man stories, I think it's about time I get on to feeding these guys lunch. I have to put this back too," he added, waving his now-empty mug.

Misty stood up abruptly from Ash's Kingler. "Do you need any help?"

Professor Oak waved her offer away with his hand. "No, I have aides to help me out. You stay here and make yourself at home."

"Thank you, Professor."

Truly, Misty would have loved to stay by the water and play with all the different Pokémon. Well, observe them at the very least. It was interesting to see the difference between an exterior water habitat like this and the one she and her sisters fostered at the Gym. It made her think that maybe they should begin construction on a lake in the back, at least for the local Pokémon that didn't need the strict temperature control that her Seel and Dewgong did. But Goldeen, Staryu—they might enjoy spending some time outside.

But Misty only allowed herself the few minutes it took for Professor Oak to make it back up the hill and out of sight. And then, Misty left the Water sanctuary, heading in the direction of the trees.

She wished that Noir were there. If she were, Misty could send her out like a Flying-Type Pokémon to scout out the area and find Ash and Pikachu quicker. As it was, she had only herself and her slow stride on the comparative vastness of the Oak ranch.

Not that that was entirely a bad thing. There was something about walking that Misty had really grown to enjoy on her journey thus far, despite her annoyance over the death of her bike, thanks to Daniel and Fay. It seemed to Misty that walking was the exact speed that humans were meant to go to take in the world. And this never seemed truer than there on Oak's ranch, where with every step there was a new Pokémon to check out, a new environment to ogle over. So much thought had been put in over this corral that it inspired Misty to do better at her own Gym.

Not that all that mattered, as Ash had made himself quite easy to find. What with the stampeding Tauros and all.

Misty wondered what had set them off. Could they sense a strange energy that Ash and Pikachu were emitting? Had Pikachu surprised them with a Thundershock? Or, God forbid, were they always like that?

There wasn't long to ponder that thought, though, because Misty had to run back toward the trees just to keep from being mowed over by those things. Nevertheless, this was her chance to get his attention, so she shouted, "Ash!" as loud as she could, just hoping to be heard over the raucous Tauros.

She figured there was no way that he had heard her until she felt herself being lifted in the air until she could see the herd of Tauros beneath her feet. As though to ensure that Misty knew exactly who had swept her up, Pikachu floated in front of her face and waved.

"Pikachupi!"

"Hi, Pikachu!" Misty cried, unable to keep a slight wail of fright out of her voice.

By that point, the Tauros had passed and Misty felt herself being returned to the ground.

"Hey, Misty," Ash said as he flipped to be in front of her. "Didja get your Pokémon healed?"

Still breathless, Misty showed him her bag. "Sure did!"

"That's good. I knew the professor could help."

"And just how did you know that?"

It was an innocent enough question, but Misty posed it with a knowing expression—eyebrow arched and eyes piercing.

"Everyone knows Professor Oak, Misty," Ash said evasively.

"You're right," Misty replied, oddly agreeable. "Everyone knows _of_ Professor Oak. But only today can I say that I know him. That I know him like you know him. Knew him."

Ash blinked, a number of thoughts running over his face, and for a moment Misty could see the young boy that Professor Oak had spoken of. She imagined his face as an open book, wide-eyed and uninhibited, lacking the shields that war, death, and loneliness had placed over top. Then he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Boy, you sure are smart, Misty."

"Thank you," Misty said, surprised at the compliment.

"Howdja find out?"

Misty told an abridged version of the story that didn't include the fact that she had asked Professor Oak slightly more personal questions about Ash and Pikachu. And then she said simply:

"Come with me."

* * *

Misty didn't know what Pokémon on the ranch belonged to Ash, but she did know where to start. Back at the main Water Pokémon section with Kingler.

"It's that one there," Ash said, pointing to the Kingler she'd seen him with earlier.

Aside from the fact that it was the only Kingler Misty could see anywhere around, she would have been able to pick it out of a crowd anyway. Usually she'd tell Ash this, probably with a tone and expression meant to make him feel stupid, but in a great effort to be sympathetic, she bit her tongue and nodded.

"Hello again, Kingler."

Misty crouched down so she was face to face with the Pokémon she'd been stroking just a few minutes ago. She was glad that they were starting with a Water Pokémon, so that she was as in-element as possible. She knew that Kingler were smart, but they weren't necessarily on the same level of understanding human language as some other Pokémon were. They were at a healthy medium level on that front, and Misty could only hope that they'd be able to communicate well enough for this to go well. To not disappoint Ash.

"Kingler, you remember your old friend Ash, right? Your friends Ash and Pikachu?"

Kingler wasn't showing any particular response. Nothing in the eyes, nothing with the mouth. Its claws were just bobbing about as they usually did, slowly moving through the air. Then, just as Misty was about to suggest that maybe they start with a different Pokémon, Kingler's mouth started to foam and it seemed to nod its head. Misty exhaled with relief. She wasn't sure that she had it in her to disappoint Ash with this, not after he'd been waiting so long for it.

"Would you believe me if I told you that their spirits were right here?" Misty asked, pointing just over her shoulder where she knew Ash and Pikachu were hovering, assuredly hanging on her every word.

Misty saw Kingler looking where she had gestured, its bubbles of excitement breaking down and popping as it searched for its friends. Misty shook her head.

"Only I can see them," she explained. "It's a special ability of mine. But I can see them, touch them, and talk to them. Tell you what they're saying."

She spoke slowly, trying to gesture along and be as expressive as possible. Anything to help aid understanding with a Pokémon that was not her own, that she didn't have any kind of a relationship with. It was challenging, but she had a good feeling that Kingler understood at least most of what she was saying, even if it was taking a moment longer to grasp than it might have with another Pokémon.

"Is there anything you'd like to say, Ash?"

As Misty turned around to see what Ash was gonna say, she noticed him rubbing his eyes with the back of his arm. That kind of showing of emotion wasn't entirely uncommon in Misty's line of work—someone was often crying in these kinds of encounters—but something about it being Ash alarmed Misty and she didn't quite know what to do. Should she look away and give him a moment or should she comfort him? After all, this wasn't some anonymous ghost at this point; it was _Ash_.

Fortunately, Pikachu came to Misty's rescue and patted his Trainer on the head, wiping some of the tears away with his tail. It was more than Misty could have done for him any day.

After a minute or two, Ash managed to somewhat pull himself together. With words wobbly and breath shaky, he said, "Tell Kingler I say hi."

* * *

"Watch out for this one," Ash said as he, Pikachu, and Misty walked up a mountain that seemed to have popped out of nowhere on Oak's ranch. Well, it wasn't quite a mountain, but it was a tall, rocky hill. Misty could feel her quads burning, but she figured it was good; she hadn't had ample opportunity to work out anyway. "He can be pretty feisty."

"And he's getting me when my defenses are down from this hike."

Ash chuckled. "Yeah, he just likes it up here. King of the hill, I guess."

This was Ash's last Pokémon. At least for today it was. If Professor Oak was right about Ash's Pokémon, then Ash might expect for her to go around the region and find the rest of his Pokémon to communicate with. She would do it, of course, but she wasn't sure that she had the time, energy, or emotional fortitude to handle any more that day.

She hadn't cried. Ash had, though, many times, as had Pikachu. But this wasn't about her; she was just the translator. This was her job and she'd be damned if today was the day she didn't come through.

"Watch out," Ash stressed as they reached the top. "I'm not sure how he's gonna react."

"Sounds like this Pokémon didn't have a great Trainer," Misty quipped, sending Ash a smile so that he knew she was joking.

"Maybe he didn't," Ash said, his voice taking on some of that grave tone that she'd been hoping her joking would shed away. He didn't seem too sad, though. None of it had been sad, particularly, just emotional. Overwhelming. "Not the whole time, anyway. I got this one pretty early on and didn't know how to handle him. Not for a while."

"It'll be fine, Ash. All the rest have been fine; there's no reason for this to be a disaster."

Ash pursed his lips pensively. "You don't know him like I do."

All the warnings had made Misty a bit tense with anticipation by the time the rock flattened out to reveal a large orange Pokémon curled up, wings folded, potentially sleeping.

"Do you have a Water Pokémon standing by?"

Misty ignored the stupid question and continued to approach. They had happened to come up on the Charizard's back and she was trying to take as large a loop around as the mini-mountain would provide her. She didn't want the dragon to think that she was sneaking up on him. She'd just made it past the tail when the flame suddenly became bigger, waving back and forth like an Arbok waiting to strike.

She took a step back and froze, scanning over his form to see if there were any other body language cues he was giving her. There weren't. His body wasn't tensed and his limbs were still pressed into his body, making no steps towards standing.

Then his eye opened. One steely gray eye focused right on Misty. She was already reaching slowly towards her 'Belt when suddenly Charizard took in a big breath as though preparing for a Fire Attack, only to close his eye again and give a big, smoky snort.

"Are you serious?"

Misty turned to Ash in disbelief, letting the anxiety that had been filling her turn into anger. She'd thought this Pokémon was going to leave her without eyebrows, but clearly he didn't even think that she was worth his time.

Ash sure had collected some _bold_ personalities.

"Heh, yeah, this was the other option," Ash said.

Usually that kind of comment would have been accompanied by some kind of a sheepish expression, maybe rubbing the back of his neck and giving Misty some Growlithe eyes, but he wasn't looking at her at all. He was focused on Charizard, floating around and giving him the once-over Misty had, though she doubted it was for the same reasons.

"Charizard?" Misty asked as she began to creep closer to the Pokémon's head, crouching down. He ignored her. "Charizard, remember your friends Ash and Pikachu?"

The right eye opened again, which Misty found encouragement in.

"I know they've been gone a while, but would you believe me if I told you that their spirits are right here?"

And away the eye went.

Misty wished that Noir were there. It would be so much easier for a Pokémon to believe that a Ghost Pokémon could see a human ghost than a 'powerless' human. She had Frillish, but she didn't want to bring him out on top of a mountain. Besides, bringing out a Water Type might seem like a threat to this Charizard, and even if Ash's warnings seemed pretty feeble right now, Misty didn't want to see this Pokémon when he was all riled up.

The only thing to do was keep going until he believed her.

"I can see ghosts and I've been hanging out with Ash and Pikachu for—" The last what? She'd only left home a week…no, not even quite a week ago. Her concussion hadn't even healed yet; her bruises had only just faded, "the last few days."

Still no response. Misty was willing to keep talking, but she wasn't even sure if Charizard was _hearing_ her words, much less listening. She wasn't giving up, but she looked to Ash, not knowing what her next step was.

And she wished she hadn't. He wasn't crying, not this time, not yet, but he was clearly upset. She supposed that his hopes had gotten up high after talking to all of his other Pokémon, and now his head was down, his hat would have been covering his eyes if she hadn't had to look up to see him from her crouch. She was letting him down.

Misty was about to try and talk to Charizard again, ready to vamp until she came up with whatever nugget would get Charizard to believe her. Then, suddenly, she saw Ash flip his hat backwards and jut his chin forward. Out of nowhere, he said, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt."

If Misty expected Pikachu to hesitate or look at Ash in confusion, she was wrong. Pikachu didn't skip a beat before releasing a full strength Thunderbolt onto Charizard's resting form. Misty fell back, raising her arm as the sparks flew and Charizard flailed, his Flying typing allowing for the move to do considerable damage, in addition to rousing him from his slumber.

Misty looked around and there was no cover anywhere to protect her from a Charizard's Flamethrower. No rocks she could dive behind or even a spot where she felt she wouldn't hurt herself if she jumped off the ledge. The rocks were too steep or unstable.

"Ash, what the hell?" Misty shouted as she continued to cover her face. She could hear Charizard moving, rocks being shifted out of place as its tail swept across the ground. But when she looked up, Charizard and Ash were almost nose to nose, Pikachu now sparking little jolts of electricity from his cheeks to mark where they were.

"Hi, Charizard," Ash said, a bit of a wobbly laugh coming out of him at the same time.

Misty got to her feet, brushing the pebbles that had dug into her legs away as she went to stand a little off of Charizard's shoulder. "He says hi."

Ash knelt down next to Charizard's face, holding Pikachu tightly in his arms as he continued. "I'm sorry it's been such a long time…"

Misty echoed Ash's words, "I'm sorry it's been such a long time, but I've been watching you and I know you're doing well. You're healthy and strong, and that's all I could have asked for. I just wish that you were a little happier, you know? I can't help but think that here on this rock, without me and Pikachu and our other friends, you might be a little lonely."

Charizard's face betrayed nothing. He must have been listening, because his eyes were open, but nothing in his expression was changing. However, Misty couldn't help but notice that Charizard was managing to look almost right at where Ash and Pikachu were knelt, just barely off.

"I think that maybe you want to be alone because you know how much it hurts to be abandoned, but that's not a good enough reason. We're always better for having friends, even if it's not for a long time. Remember how close you and Pikachu became? How you always let him fly on your back? I'm sure you don't regret being friends with him now, even if you don't get to see each other anymore. Oh, and Pikachu says pi kachu. I'm not sure that I interpreted that right…"

Misty fell out of her interpreter role for a second as she cast Pikachu an apologetic look. As she did so, she saw Ash starting to falter again. His head was bent, so she couldn't see his face, but she heard him sniffling. He wiped his eyes with the back of his arm and cast a huge smile Charizard's way.

"Also, Pikachu can fly on his own now. I wish you could see it."

That was when Misty almost lost it. The only thing keeping her grounded was the fact that Ash had more to say; she still had a job to do.

After that, Ash spoke quickly and it was hard for Misty to keep up but she wanted to make sure that Charizard heard every word Ash had to say.

"Don't think that I haven't seen you giving Professor Oak's aides a tough time. I have and you need to cut it out. Professor Oak is one of your friends and it's the least you can do. Do it for me. And Pikachu. And just, yeah, try to be happy. Um, goodbye, Chariza—no, no! Uh, see you again soon!"

Ash got to his feet quickly, but he only took a few steps before Charizard stood up as well, looking square at Ash's head. His gaze was so dead-on that Misty shivered, wondering for a second if he really could see. Then, Charizard raised his head to the sky and an enormous burst of flame erupted from his mouth with a roar that rattled the ground. In that sound, Misty could hear all the grief, all the pain from decades of suffering and loneliness. Misty turned to Ash and said his name, but she wasn't sure he heard her. When he began walking, she had no choice but to follow.

They made it down the hill again slowly, through a combination of walking, scooting down in a Krabby walk, and a little bit of falling. Ash didn't look back at her, but he reached his hand out to give Misty a bit of stability, and she took it. When they finally hit grass again, Misty was a little sweaty, smudged with dirt, and totally silent. Between all the other conversations with Ash's Pokémon, Misty had kept things a little chatty, more so than she usually was, rallying Ash so he could make it to the next encounter. But now with no 'next' and having been privy to such intimate moments as a translator, she found that she had no words of her own.

Misty only remembered that Ash had her hand when she felt it tug against her. She turned around to see Ash stopped, his eyes wide—wide enough to show all the emotion he was feeling. Wide enough that the tears didn't even pool, they just dropped right off onto his cheeks and rolled freely.

"Oh."

The sound just came out, a little bit of acknowledgement, a little confusion, a little surprise. It was followed by a little gasp as Misty felt another jerk on her arm, this one a good deal stronger, as she felt herself tugged into Ash's arms. There was nothing gentle about it as he wrapped her tightly in his embrace, a loud, sloppy sob escaping his control.

"Thank you," he cried. " _Thank_ _you_."

Misty felt Pikachu on the back of her neck, sniffles and shaking giving him away as crying too and it was then that Misty couldn't hold back anymore either. And the three of them cried in the field together for a long time.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, since the last update I've left my college town for home and left my hometown for the one and only New York City. (Yo, I've moved five times this summer, plus a vacation. It's been crazy.) I'm a real person now, ya'll, and you should be afraid, very afraid. Or I'm just afraid. I hope this chapter made you feel something. Would you believe that in my original draft Ash wasn't in this chapter at all? It was just the Professor Oak part combined with what is now the next chapter. So I hope you guys appreciated the feels and the slight shippiness of it all. If you liked it, please review! (Or even if you didn't.)

Also, many thanks to my beta, C'sMelody. If you liked the end of this chapter, it's all thanks to her. She wanted to make sure that tears would roll.


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